Kimberly in Ghostland
by CecilaAlice
Summary: Kimmy has lived with her uncle Vlad for most of her life, and he's been keeping some pretty big secrets from her. Secrets that become exposed when the Fenton's come visit for a college reunion. But now, her uncle's secret is going to change her life forever. A/N: Taking a dive into the Phandom. Dannyxfem!OC
1. Bitter Reunions, Part 1

"Danny. This is becoming a real problem."

Danny Fenton sat on the living room couch in silence, looking down at his knees with guilt as his mother scolded him for coming home after curfew. Again.

"You're constantly late coming home," his mother continued. Behind her, Danny's father had shoved himself inside the new ghost catching machine he was working on, the annoying sound of a wrench and bolt lingering in the air around Maddie's scolding. He peeled himself away from his work to peer around the machine and glare at his son.

"You're shirking from your chores," he said.

"Your grades are slipping,"

"You're shirking from your chores,"

His father's last comment grabbed Danny's attention and he looked up in confusion, "You already said chores."

"I know, but when you don't do them, I get stuck with them."

Danny suppressed his eye twitching in frustration and took a deep breath to calm himself, "Look, I'm under a lot of pressure. You two have no idea what it's like to be a kid today."

Mrs. Fenton wasn't buying it, "Come on, Danny, that's the oldest excuse in the book. There's nothing you're going through that your father and I didn't go through when we were your age."

Danny sighed, accepting defeat as he leaned on the arm of the couch. He had a scowl on his face, knowing there was nothing that he could say that would get him out of this one. Though he stiffened when something didn't feel right. He looked down and found that his arm had phased through the couch. He sucked in a breath and pulled out his arm, willing it to be whole again and looking around to see if anyone noticed, muttering under his breath, "Yeah? Well, I beg to differ." He slumped.

The soft thud of a book closing pulled his attention to his sister who had been sitting quietly with a large book, reading in the armchair next to him. By the look on her face, Danny could tell that she was in full on psychologist-mode and he took a deep breath, preparing for whatever theory she'd come up with this time as to why he was acting out.

"The reason Danny doesn't think you can relate to him is that you never take the time to tell him about your childhood." She explained.

"Jazz!" Danny protested, but it was no use. Jazz was in too deep and there was no stopping her now.

"Have you ever told him how you met? About your first date? Where you went to college?"

Danny tried to stop her but when their father stepped away from his machine with a broad smile on his face, Danny knew he was doomed to whatever scheme his sister had put into motion.

"You know, Jasmine, that's a great idea!" Jack exclaimed, tapping his chin in thought.

"It is?" Jazz questioned, surprised by her father's cooperation.

"What is?" Maddie said, unsure where this conversation was going.

"This is!" Jack pulled a flyer from his pocket in excitement, pulling his wife in close, "You can come with your mother and I to our college reunion."

"I…can?" Danny stuttered.

Jazz got up close to the flyer and muttering the words written on it to herself, "Wisconsin?"

"Sure," Jack said, "My old pal Vlad is throwing a huge shindig there. We'll take the RV so the whole family can go together. You can learn more about your mother's and my college days, and while we drive, I can blather on about ghosts!"

A loud _ding_ interrupted Jack as the machine he'd been working out began convulsing. The Fenton's all turned to it just as a bit of ectoplasmic goo shot out of the side, hitting Jazz square in the face. She obviously wasn't happy about it, unlike her father who laughed proudly, "It works! I can't wait to blather on about that, too!"

The next thing Danny and Jazz knew, they were sitting in the back of their parents' RV on their way to Wisconsin. Though admittedly, the RV looked more like some sort of military assault vehicle than a recreational camping vehicle.

"How does this happen?" Jazz moaned and gave her brother a sideways glance, "You goof up, and I have to spend four days jammed in the Fenton Ghost RV?"

"That's the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle, folks." Their father corrected her from the driver's seat, "Every button in this baby is a ghost's worst nightmare."

Danny groaned, "I need some air."

He moved his hand towards a row of red switches next to him and his sister gasped, warning him not to press any of the buttons, but it was too late. He'd already hit about three of the switches, causing the RV to put a hole through a tree, turn a flying duck into an ice cube, and electrify a man driving next to them before a loose hose spat ectoplasmic goo on Jazz's face again as she and Danny watched from the window. Her eyebrows lowered in anger and she started grumbling to herself.

"I'll get you for this."

* * *

That night, the four of them crammed into the one bed in the RV after parking it at a truck stop a little ways out from their destination. Maddie was already fast asleep, tucked in between her husband and her daughter. Danny and Jazz were squeezed together at the end, the most miserable they had ever been as their father advised them to get some rest before finishing up their journey tomorrow.

"I want the entire Fenton clan bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when we meet Masters tomorrow." He said, clutching onto his teddy bear.

"Wait, wait, wait." Jazz stopped him, "Masters? As in Vlad Masters – who was named "Affluence" magazine's billionaire of the year?"

"That's the guy! In college, he was my best friend. We were very popular guys. Roommates, lab partners, we did everything together…until the thick fingers of fate stuck themselves right in Vlad's eyes. Your mother and I were working on a prototype of the Ghost Portal, but Vlad didn't think it would work. When I turned it on for the first time, Vlad was blasted with some of the misfire. He was hospitalized with a horrible case of ecto-acne. It devastated him. And killed his social life. We haven't spoken since that day. But the good news is, I think after all these years, he's finally forgiven me."

Danny and Jazz weren't so sure about their father's words, but tried to get as much sleep as they could, despite the cramped space and their father's snoring. And just as they suspected, the sun came too early for the both of them and their parents got them up and back on the road. It didn't take them long to arrive at a castle sized mansion, decorated in gold and green banners on the outside. The family exited the vehicle and approached the front door, greeting by a tall, handsome man with a long face and long white hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail. He was dressed in a nicely tailored suit and had a warm smile on his face as he stepped out of the shadows to meet them.

"Jack," he started, "and Maddie! You've never looked lovelier, my dear. Please, please, come in."

Masters led Maddie, Jazz, and Danny into his home, closing the door in Jack's face just as he was about to follow his family inside. He called out to his friend on the other side but it seemed as if no one could hear him. Vlad, Maddie, Jazz, and Danny stopped just inside the door, allowing them to get a good look at the foyer that was decked out in footballs, helmets, uniforms, posters, you name it. And all of it was gold and green.

"What's with all the green and gold?" Jazz asked, "You're a billionaire. Surely you could afford an interior designer."

"Jazz, hello?" Danny said, "Football helmets, jerseys, cheeseheads. He's a Packers fanatic."

Danny smiled proudly at his deduction skills and Vlad placed a hand on his head, "Fanatic is such a negative word. But, yes."

"I don't understand. You have billions of dollars. Instead of buying this stuff, why don't you just buy the team?" Jazz questioned.

"Because the Packers are owned by the city of Green Bay, and they won't sell them to me!" He yelled, clearly heated about the subject. The three Fenton's exchanged awkward glances before Vlad regained his composure and turned to Maddie with a bright smile, "One of two things my wealth has not as of yet been able to acquire."

The silence was only broken by Masters' creepy chuckle and Danny turned to his sister, "Is he hitting on Mom?"

"As long as he's got working toilets and Mom says no, who cares?"

Jazz walked off as Maddie tried to stutter her way out of the tense interaction between herself and her old college friend. She finally excused herself, claiming the need to go let her husband into the mansion, leaving Danny alone with Mr. Masters. He noticed a football nearby that was not guarded by a glass case and he approached it, praising it as Vlad joined him.

"Yes, indeed." Vlad said, "This ball was autographed by the legendary Ray Nitschke himself. It's my prized possession."

Danny was so invested in what Masters was saying that he didn't even notice his father coming up behind Vlad with a mischievous smile on his face. By the time he finally noticed him, it was too late, and all Danny could do was watch on in horror.

"Heads up, V-Man!" Jack shouted before tackling Vlad to the ground, almost crushing the ball Vlad was so proud of. Jack laughed, getting to his feet with the ball in hand and a broad grin on his face, "I see you've still got the old moves."

"Give me that!" Vlad stood and snatched the ball out of Jack's hands, marching himself over to replace it to its pedestal before turned to wave his finger at Jack in anger, "I never had any old moves! All those years in the hospital robbed me of that!"

The Fenton's looked on at him with almost terrified expressions and Masters attempted to compose himself, "Yes. But it gave me time to chart out a course for my life, didn't it? Make some decisions that helped to make me very wealthy very quickly. And it never would have happened without you, Jack."

"Um, is everything okay?"

A new voice came from behind them and everyone looked towards the staircase. A young girl, probably around Danny's age was halfway down the steps. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton blinked and looked at Vlad, obviously thinking the same thing and Vlad cleared his throat to explain.

"Everything is fine, Kimberly. But please, come down and greet our guests."

The girl, Kimberly gave a small smile and jogged down the remaining steps, joining Vlad who placed his hands on her shoulders, "Jack, Maddie, kids, I would like you to meet my niece, Kimberly. She's lived with me since she was very young. Kimberly, this is Jack, and his _wife_ Maddie, and their children, Daniel and Jasmine."

"Hey, guys." Kimberly waved and the Fenton's returned the favor. She looked like a very sweet girl, with long flowing blonde hair and bright blue eyes with freckles dotting her cheeks. She was the epitome of teen girl with a purple midriff and stylish jeans. She reminded Danny a little of Paulina, only with paler skin and a kinder smile.

"It's wonderful to meet you, dear, but maybe we should go." Maddie suggested.

Danny noticed that Kimberly's face dropped a little and Vlad immediately began to back pedal, "No, no! You should stay with me! That's the whole reason I'm throwing the reunion here in my castle – previously home to the legendary Wisconsin Dairy King – just so I could reconnect with you, Jack. I insist you stay."

Vlad threw his arm around Jack's shoulders and Jack chuckled, "Well, I don't know. We do have a really cool RV."

Jazz started to panic, thinking quickly, she coughed over her words, _"_ _Let's stay here!"_

Kimberly covered her lips to stifle a giggle and Danny eyed his sister, obviously impressed, "Smooth."

"I'm sure Kimberly and Jasmine and Daniel would enjoy, as the kids say, 'hanging out'. And you know, Jack." Vlad ignored the children's banter, continuing in his efforts to convince Jack to stay in the castle, "The Dairy King's ghost could haunt these very halls."

That did it.

"I'll get the bags!"

* * *

Kimberly, or Kimmy as she preferred to be called, was a fairly sound sleeper. She could sleep through most things: storms, people talking, even her own alarm on occasion. So, she was completely surprised to find that a loud banging woke her up in the middle of the night. Granted she hadn't been sleeping well to begin with. The whole encounter between her uncle and his old college friend, Jack didn't feel right. Her uncle was acting weirder than normal, which was pretty darn weird to begin with. After convincing Jack and his family to stay in the castle with her uncle and herself, Kimmy had helped the Fenton's settle into their guest rooms. Her uncle had suggested that once the kids were done, she should give them a tour of the castle. She, of course, was happy to. She took them to one of her private rooms where they could hang out in peace without the adults hovering over them and they really had a nice afternoon. Kimmy really enjoyed being able to talk to kids her own age for once. They never got much company and with her being homeschooled, and the only social interaction she really got was what little she spoke to her uncle. Her uncle was a kind man to her, taking her in when she lost her parents and allowing her to stay here in the castle with him. But he was not a very personable man. He mostly kept to himself and allowed her to do as she pleased, save for a few rules. She had a curfew, like most kids her age, but the other rules included "forbidden rooms", and certain topics of conversation that she wasn't allowed to talk about. One being: ghosts. Though she never could figure out why.

Kimmy pulled the covers back and swung her feet off her bed to investigate the noises that persisted outside of her door. She padded across the room, quietly opening the door just enough so that she could see into the hall. At first, she didn't see anything. And the more she started to think about it, she found it a little strange that no one else got up to check on all the racket that was happening. But then she saw it, or rather, him. She gasped when a boy with white hair, covered in cuts and bruises and glowing green blood came flying from her uncle's study down the hall. His black hazmat suit was ripped to shreds and he wasn't moving. Alex held her breath, trying to decide what she should do. When after a few moments, he still didn't move, she started to open her bedroom door a little wider. But she stopped herself when the boy was joined by a tall man, dressed in an all-white suit and white cape. His skin was an eerie blue and his eyes were glowing red. A chill went down Kimmy's spine and she stayed put, watching from a safe distance. The man stood over the boy, a gleaming grin plastered on his face in victory. Who were these people? Nobody Kimmy had ever seen before. Surely, they weren't guests for the college reunion. Kimmy was pulled from her thoughts when a bright blue ring encircled the unconscious boy's torso, pulling apart and changing him. Kimmy's eyes grew wide when it was none other than Danny Fenton lying in the white-haired boy's place. The man standing over him seemed just as stunned, his jaw going slack.

"The Ghost Boy is Jack's son?" he said. He stood a moment, thinking of his next move, when a very similar black ring appeared around him, separating with a whir and changing him as well. And Kimmy couldn't believe what she was seeing.

That evil looking man was her own uncle.


	2. Bitter Reunions, Part 2

Kimmy got ready in her room early in the day. She'd barely slept after witnessing her uncle and Danny change from…whatever they were. When she'd had enough of tossing and turning and it became a somewhat acceptable hour for her to be awake, she got out of bed and started her day. She laid out her clothes and jumped in the shower, letting the hot water calm her racing thoughts. Though she wasn't sure how well it was actually working. Today was the big day, the day of her uncle's college reunion. She wasn't technically invited, but she knew that she was welcome to join in if she wanted to. She had been to plenty of events with her uncle and she knew how these fancy adult gatherings worked. She finished her shower and wrapped a towel around herself, thinking that she might stop in, though the clothes she'd picked out weren't really formal enough.

Getting ready was a methodic task, she wasn't thinking about it too much. She thought the shower actually made it worse as brain was too busy thinking about Danny and her uncle to worry about anything else. Should she say something? She wanted to know, but she wasn't sure if it was appropriate. She probably wasn't supposed to see what had gone down the night before, but really, it was right outside of her bedroom. How was she not supposed to hear that? She finished brushing her hair and pulled on her clothes, peering outside her bedroom door before stepping out into the hallway, half expecting Danny and her uncle to still be out there. It was still early so she was sure she had a few hours till anyone else would be awake and she wanted to check out her uncle's study. He really didn't like it when she snooped around in there too long, but it wasn't necessarily forbidden. She started that way when she stopped at the sound of her name. Startled, she turned around quickly, sure she'd been caught, but it was only Jazz waving at her from down the hall. Kimmy let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and smiled, waving back and waiting for the girl to catch up to her. She'd really liked Jazz. They didn't have too much in common, but it was nice to talk to other girls that were close to her age.

"Morning, Jazz. How'd you sleep?" Kimmy greeted once the redhead reached her, falling in step beside her.

"Good morning. Very well, thank you. Listen, would you mind reminding me were that screening room is? I have no desire to go to this reunion and I'd much rather spend my time actually learning something."

Kimmy laughed, "I totally get that. Come on, it's this way."

She led Jazz to the screening room where Vlad was always showing the history of the Green Bay Packers on a huge projector screen with several theater seats lining the floor in front of it. The girls spoke for a few more minutes before Kimmy left her to retrace her steps back to the study. Once she was standing outside the room she felt her pulse quicken, suddenly very afraid of what was behind this door. What was she going to find in there? Dead bodies? Blood? She took a deep breath, checking to make sure no one was watching, and pushed the large wooden door open. Once inside, the door creaked shut behind her and she jumped at the noise. She chuckled at herself and started to have a look around. So far so good - no dead bodies or blood to be found. For that, she was happy. But she also wasn't finding any clues as to what Danny and her uncle were up to last night.

Finding no answers to her questions she left the study and started down the hall, trying to wrap her head around everything she'd seen. She reached the stairs and found that people had started to arrive for the reunion. Her uncle was greeting everyone at the door and she leaned on the railing to watch, keeping special eye on her guardian. Now that she'd seen her uncle change from…whatever it was, she felt uneasy. What other secrets was he keeping from her? Not that he was an open book to begin with, but still. She'd lived in this castle practically her whole life, how did she never know that he was some monster being? She leaned her cheek into her palm and watched the people file into the dining hall, trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach that said her whole life was a lie. She tried to think, most of the other rooms were open to her. The other forbidden rooms she could think of were her uncle's bathroom (like she'd want to go in there anyway) and his lab.

She suddenly stood up stick straight with a huge grin on her face. That was it! The lab! With the reunion happening her uncle would be too busy entertaining the guests to notice her snooping around in there. Now was her chance. She immediately turned on her heel, trying to sneak away before anyone noticed she'd been up on the banister, but not before running head first into someone. She rubbed her head and instinctively started apologizing, repeatedly. But the boy just chuckled, rubbing his own head with smile.

"It's fine, I promise. It was my fault." Danny said. Kimmy felt like a deer in headlights. She hadn't seen or talked to him since before she'd seen him change and now she couldn't even look him in the eye. She'd really liked him, too. Unlike his sister, she and Danny had a lot in common, and she really enjoyed his company, but now all she could think about was the burning question: what was he?

"Um, Kimmy?" Danny waved his hand in front of her face, grabbing her attention again when she didn't speak, "Are you okay?"

"Oh! Um, yeah, sorry about that," she chuckled nervously, "What were you saying?"

"I was asking if you were coming to the reunion? It's going to be a bunch of my parents friends talking about 'the glory days' and I was hoping there'd be someone there I could hang out with since Jazz bailed on me."

Kimmy blinked, "You'd want to hang out with me?"

Danny looked at her as if she'd just asked him if the sky was blue, but his eyes were boyish and kind, "Well, yeah. You're cool and I had a lot of fun yesterday."

Kimmy smiled so big she probably looked like she should be in a mental hospital, but she didn't care. Friends were not something she had a plethora of and she was ecstatic that someone actually wanted to spend time with her, even if it was just at a boring event for their parents, "Um, yeah, I'll be there! I just have to check on something first."

"Cool. See you there!"

He waved and started down the stairs towards his parents who were waiting for him just outside the hall that the reunion was being held in. Kimmy waved back, watching Mrs. Fenton adjust Danny's tie and kiss his cheek, much to his disgust before they made their way inside the hall to join the others. Kimmy stood there until Danny disappeared into the room with his parents, wondering what it was like to have parents. She wasn't upset about her situation, her parents died when she was so young she didn't even remember what they were like. She only knew what they looked like from photos she'd inherited. She knew them through the stories her uncle told her and letters they'd written but in doing this it made them feel more like old friends than parents. But now was not the time to wallow in self-pity. She stood with a straight back and with a new wave of motivation she started once again down the hall that led to the room that her uncle had forbidden her to enter.

* * *

She was a little braver this time around, opening the laboratory door without hesitation and slipping inside. She slowly closed the door as quietly as she could before turning to face whatever it was that her uncle was trying to keep hidden from her. There were huge computers, silver tables full of chemicals, and beakers were lying around everywhere. She traveled deeper in, careful not to touch anything. What on earth was her uncle doing with a secret lab in his castle? She knew that he was a scientist. He had several degrees in all kinds of sciences that she couldn't even pronounce. But something felt off, something didn't feel right to her.

She turned the corner at the back of the lab, coming across a dead end, but also a discovery. There was a huge vault door on the back wall, painted with cautionary yellow and black stripes around the edges and a blinking red light at the top. It was open and completely empty, she realized, and she approached it with wide eyes, her jaw hanging slack in awe. As she got closer the air around it felt cold, as if she was approaching a huge freezer and she shivered. She peered inside, finding nothing but wires and circuitry. Her fingers caressed the control pad on the right side of the door, trying to understand it but technology was never her strong suit.

"Curiouser and curiouser." She mumbled.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be in here."

A low, scary sounding voice almost made her jump out of her skin and she whipped around, trying not to scream at the sight before her. A big man, if he could be called a man, in all metal armor of some sort was inching closer to her. His eyes were green, as was his hair that moved as if it was fire on top of his head. She took a step back and immediately tripped over some wires, landing hard on the cold tile of the floor. Whatever it was now stood over here, peering at her with a bored expression, continuing to inch closer to her and causing her to scoot back. She felt the panic rise in her throat the closer he got, a panic that only worsened when she hit a switch. She felt it and immediately drew her hand away, but it was too late. Something whirred to life behind her and she realized that she was inside the vault she'd just been studying. The switch that she'd hit was an "on" switch, and whatever it was that this machine did, it was coming to life around her.

Pain. Searing pain. That's what she felt. It was a cold burn, like frostbite all over her body just before you lose the feeling to nerve damage. She screamed, holding herself as the feeling coursed through her body. Something didn't feel right, something was happening to her. It felt as if her soul was trying to rip itself in two. She could feel herself slipping, her vision blurred to green, then it was dark and the pain was gone.

Skulker watched on as this girl squirmed before him, obviously in excruciating pain. When the light died out and she passed out on the floor in front of the short-circuited ghost portal, a voice grabbed his attention from the door to the lab. This time it was a voice he was actually expecting.

"Present? I don't see a present."

Skulker smirked and moved the girl out of sight, hoping that she would stay unconscious until his job was done. Around the corner, Danny approached a photo frame with a ripped photo of a younger version of his mom and Vlad. He picked it up and pulled a piece of a photo that he'd taken off of a few bird ghosts he'd fought a few days before, one of his dad, from inside his coat pocket. He replaced the piece to the frame and found it to be a perfect match.

"Oh, no." he muttered under his breath, just as his ghost sense warned him of enemies nearby. He was immediately on high alert, activating his ghost mode just in time to be picked up by a few octopus ghosts he'd fought when he'd first gained his powers. They were easily taken care of and he stood holding their remains, trying to piece together this puzzle that was slowly making itself known to him, "Those ghosts! They were two of the first ghosts I fought!"

"And they're not alone, pup."

Danny turned to face his new enemy, only to be hit with a glowing green net that sent him flying into the wall behind him. He hit the ground with a loud thud as an electric shock was sent through his body and he called out in pain. He looked up and his attacker came out of the shadows, revealing Skulker on the other end of the net. Danny broke free from his prison and served Skulker a hard right hook, throwing him back into a few generator tanks, leaving huge dents and allowing smoke to escape.

"How did you get back in your ectoskeleton?" Danny called, "What are you doing here?"

"All excellent questions. Catch!"

He slid a small black box on the ground and it stopped right at Danny's feet before expanding around him, leaving a hole just large enough for his head. A green glow emanated from the box and Danny started to struggle, trying to use his powers to escape with no avail. He was trapped.

"I can't phase out of this. It's disrupting my powers."

"And that's not all it does." Skulker hit a button on his wrist, sending shooting pains all through Danny's body. He screamed in pain until it stopped, leaving him in his human form and his head cloudy, unable to see straight. His head lulled to the front and Skulker held it up, exposing his neck as a large knife sprouted from his forearm, bringing Danny back to the situation at hand.

"The glowing blade is new." He commented.

"You like it? I've had some upgrades. Now…"

"Enough!" Vlad entered the lab, effectively saving Danny's life, "I didn't free you to kill the boy, Skulker. Your work is done."

Skulker hesitated and let go of Danny with a pout. He stood up straight, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Yes, well, I…" A message came in on his wrist PDA and he rolled his eyes in defeat, "I've gotta go to the library and check out a book on a gorilla. Again!"

Mechanical wings popped out of his back and he jetpacked out of the lab. Danny watched him phase through the ceiling in amazement, "Skulker, the Ectopusses, I don't understand."

"Of course not. You're, what, fourteen?" Vlad exclaimed, "You're too young to drive and not in college yet. I sent those ghosts and others to test your father's skills. Imagine my surprise when I find you, the second ghost hybrid his foolishness created."

"Second?"

The corner of Vlad's lips lifted into the most evil smirk Danny had ever seen. Masters took one step back and the familiar sound of his ghost form taking over, a black ring sprang from Vlad's middle, pulling his ghost half into existence as Danny's ghost-green eyes went wide in realization: Vlad Masters was the ghost that beat him to a pulp the night before.

"You! I'm going ghost!" Danny knew he had to do something before Vlad hurt anyone, but no matter how hard he fought he was powerless while inside his box prison, "Why can't I go ghost?"

"You have a battle cry – hilarious." Vlad looked on at him with pity, chuckling to himself as if Danny's words were an inside joke to him, "I, on the other hand, have this." He patted the box delicately, like a prized possession, "A spectral energy neutralizer, designed by Skulker, paid for by me. And as long as you're contained within that box, you're as human as your idiot father."

"Let me out of here!"

"Why? So you can go back to stumbling through your adolescence desperately trying to get control of your powers? Powers, by the way, that I've had for twenty years." He grinned, showing off some of his tricks with ectoplasm and bragging about the time he had to master the powers that Danny had only had for a few months, "I have experience, my child. And the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you see. I could train you, teach you everything I know, and all you'd have to do is renounce your idiot father."

Danny had listened to Vlad's speech silently, glaring at him from his box with unimpressed eyes. When he finished, Danny's eyebrows sunk in anger, "Dude, you are one seriously crazed up fruit loop. That is never going to happen."

"Yes, well once your father is out of the way, we'll see how you feel."

In a fit of maniacal laughter, Vlad disappeared into a swirling cloud of ectoplasm, leaving Danny trapped in the spectral energy neutralizer. He tried to break free once more, knowing there was no use, but desperate to save his family. Sweat was beading down his forehead when a heavy northern accent filled the air above him.

"Well, gosh and golly, it looks like you could use a speck of help there, don't ch'ya know."

The ghost of none other than the Dairy King of Wisconsin floated down from the ceiling, hovering in front of Danny's box prison. His face lifted in a smile at the realization of who he was speaking to, then it fell in realizing that this ghost had him cornered with no way out, "Hey, you're the Dairy King. Oh, great. What are you gonna do, suffocate me with limburger? Strangle me with swiss?"

In the middle of his ramblings, the Dairy King's ghost reached out with his ice-cream scepter and pressed the "open" switch on the neutralizer, freeing Danny of his prison. Danny looked down at the now tiny box at his feet, smiling and kicking it away from both of them.

"Well, thank you. But why?" Danny questioned.

"Not all ghosts are evil, right? Some of us just want to be left alone there, don't ch'ya know?"

"Hey, will you help me fight Plasmius?"

"I'm the Dairy King, kiddo. Kings don't fight. They send other people to fight for 'em. That's royalty 101 there, don't ch'ya know."

The Dairy King sped off through the ceiling, calling out something about trying gouda cheese and Danny smiled up at him as his intangible body phased through the ceiling. Now that he was released from his prison and alone, he could hear all the commotion happening outside the lab. He needed to act fast and he was quick to turn ghost. But just before he sped off, a noise from behind stopped him. He turned and followed it cautiously, sucking in a breath when a familiar blonde sat up weakly just outside Vlad's ghost zone.

"Kimmy," Danny flew to her aid as she regained consciousness, her vision was blurry and her head was pounding, but she recognized Danny kneeled in front of her.

"Kimmy, are you okay? How long have you been back here?"

Her memories returned to her very fast and very suddenly and she squeaked in fear, pushing away from Danny, bumping into the ghost portal and then crawling away from that as fast as she could. Danny tried to calm her nerves and find out what had happened to her, but he had never seen such fear in anyone's eyes before. She finally stopped and hugged her knees, muffled sobs not traveling much farther than Danny's ears and he was at a loss of what to do. He was a 14-year-old boy, he didn't know what to do when girls cried. He cringed at the thought of leaving her down here and sucked in a deep breath, carefully approaching the sobbing teenager.

"It's okay, um, listen, I'm a good guy. I'm here to help." He tried to reason with her.

She let out a few sniffled before finally raising her head, "But you're a ghost. There were so many ghosts."

"I know, but I'm a nice ghost. Here, let me help you." He held out his hand and she took it reluctantly. He smiled and helped her to her feet before the two of them dashed out the door towards the hall where the reunion was being held. Outside the lab it looked as if a tornado had torn its way through the castle and Kimmy was in awe. She stopped at the sound of a large motor engine just behind her and screamed as the Fenton's RV was heading straight for her.

"Look out!" Danny pushed her aside, turning them both intangible just in time for the vehicle to pass through them. They watched it tear its way down the hall towards the reunion just as the door next to them opened up and Jazz poked her head outside.

"I'm guessing we won't be invited back." She mumbled, but sucked in a breath when she finally noticed who was standing just outside the screening room, "The Ghost Boy!"

"Here, stay with Jazz – I mean, this nice girl whose name I think is Jazz. You'll be safe here." Danny shoved Kimmy into Jazz's hands and few off after the Fenton RV, leaving the two girls to stare after him with shocked faces.

"Kimmy, are you okay? How did you end up with the Ghost Boy?" Jazz asked.

"'Ghost Boy'? Do you not know who that is?"

"What are you talking about? That's the Ghost Boy that my parents are constantly trying to tear apart molecule by molecule."

Kimmy was floored. She was his sister, and she had no idea that her brother was half ghost. And from what she understood, neither did their parents. She turned back to watch just as Danny turned the corner into the dining hall and she could feel that in that moment, her world got a lot bigger than it ever seemed before.

* * *

Plasmius was defeated. Or at least that's what Danny told Kimmy when everything was over and he met back up with her and his sister. Jack Fenton had saved the day and everyone was safe. Her uncle mysteriously reappeared after all the fighting was said and done, portraying the perfect host and no one thought twice about it, but now she knew better. Resolving to keep a close eye one him from now on.

The Fenton's stayed one more night, getting up early the next morning to hit the road back to Amity Park and Kimmy had never been so sad. They were loading up the last of their bags when Danny and Jazz could hear their names being called from inside the castle. They turned with broad smiles to find Kimmy running towards them, afraid she'd missed them before they took off.

"Kimmy, don't worry. We wouldn't have left without saying goodbye." Jazz reassured. The girls hugged and Jazz boarded the RV, ready to be home again. Kimmy couldn't blame her. This weekend had turned out to be way more adventure than she'd ever planned for. But after everything she'd discovered, the thought of living here along with her uncle was a little more than terrifying. Sure, he didn't know that she knew what he was, but she did know. She really didn't want to be left alone with him and she would be lying if she said she didn't consider hiding in the Fenton RV so they would take her with them.

"Kimmy, listen, if you're ever near Amity Park don't hesitate to call. I'm sure Sam and Tuck would love to have you around." Danny invited.

"You really think so?" Kimmy's face brightened and Danny chuckled.

"Of course! Why wouldn't they?"

Danny was surprised to find her arms flung around him and he smiled, hugging her back. She let him go and waved goodbye, running off back towards the castle. Danny watched after her with a warm expression as she bounded up the stairs before climbing into the RV. The Fenton's waved from the windows as Jack drove off and Kimmy continued to wave until they were way past the point of being able to see her, but she stood on the stairs looking after them with a warmth in her heart, feeling as though that was not going to be the last time she saw the Fenton family.

"Pack your bags, Kimberly."

Kimmy whipped around in terrified surprise at the familiar voice of her uncle. He was standing creepily in the shadows behind her and what was once a warm and happy feeling when she saw her uncle was now cold and spine tingling. She tried to remain calm and collected but instinctly took a step back when he came into the light before she spoke, her voice trembling uncontrollably, "Pack? Are we going on a trip?"

"No, my dear, we're moving. To Amity Park."


	3. Prisoners of Love, Part 1

This week was a very long week for Danny Fenton.

"Danny, keep it down, would you?!" Jazz was a mess. Her hair was all disheveled, there were deep bags under her eyes, and she was shaking from having drank so much coffee. She'd been awake for two days straight. Their parent's anniversary had been two days ago, but their dad had forgot "for the 18th year in a row," causing them to have the biggest fight they'd ever had. The Fenton's fought all the time. They were scientist, that's what they did. Granted they weren't your average scientists, but scientists none the less. The family was used to their small squabbles, but this time Jack went after Maddie to apologize.

Jack Fenton _never_ apologizes.

This sent Jazz into a frenzy. She'd spent the past two days going over every note, diary, and psychology book she owned to try and find a mistake in her observations. Every piece of evidence she had indicated that Jack Fenton would never be self-aware enough to realize he made a mistake. If she'd been wrong about this, what else could she have been wrong about?

"Hey! I'm trying to make this place spotless so Mom will have a clean house to come home to." Danny was in full ghost mode, using his powers to clean up high with the vacuum in hand. His sister came running out into the living room and papers of notes and diary pages came with her, scattering all around the room. Danny flew down to join her, landing behind her as a human before she had a chance to realize what he was.

"Well, I need to concentrate. Ugh! I'll be at the library."

Jazz grabbed her keys and her purse and was out the door, leaving Danny home alone. He sighed and returned to his ghost form and phased through the floor to the lab downstairs. Panic set in as soon as he laid eyes on the mess he was met with.

"If Mom comes back and sees the lab like this, she'll be even angrier at Dad." He took in a deep breath and let it out, sending glowing green energy down his arm and to his fingers. He pointed at a pile of trash nearby and shot it at just the right angle that it popped up into the trashcan next to it. This gave him an idea and he smiled to himself. A task that would have taken him hours was now only taking him minutes thanks to his ghost powers. All the trash was gone, books and boxes put away, all of it done in less than half the time it would have taken him otherwise. However, one screw-up made him realize that he might have taken it too far. One misfire sent a gift that was lying on the ground flying into the ghost portal before Danny could stop it. It disappeared into the cloud of green, leaving the tag to float harmlessly to the ground and Danny was quick to retrieve it.

"'Let this gift repair the bridge to our love. Happy anniversary, Jack.'" His heart sank as he read from his dad's crappy handwriting. He had massively screwed up. What was he going to do? He had to go in and get it. But how?

Just as his brain was working a million miles a minute to think of a way to fix his mistake, the doorbell rang and startled him. Who on earth was that? He phased through to the living room and reverted to a human as he reached for the door handle. To his surprise, Kimmy Millerton was standing on his doorstep.

"Kimmy! What're you doing here?"

"Hey, Danny," she looked absolutely terrified. She was looking around as if someone was out to get her, and her whole body was shaking, "Um, is this a bad time?"

"Kimmy, is everything alright?" he reached out to her but she took a step back and held her hands up in front of her body. As soon as she did, a green glow emitted from her hands and shot out at Danny, sending him all the way back into the kitchen.

"Danny!" Kimmy ran inside, apologizing profusely as Danny sat up and rubbed his head. This time she reached out to him and as she did, her whole body glowed in an eerie blue light; when she touched him it spread to Danny and the two of them fell through the floor and into the lab. They hit the ground with a thud and Kimmy immediately scooted away from Danny, holding herself and fighting back tears.

Danny sat up once again, shaking his head to rid himself of the stars in his vision. He groaned and held his head, glancing over at Kimmy with wide eyes, "Kimmy, how did you-? Where did you-?"

He watched her flicker from invisible to visible, and a green shield-dome flickered around her. One look at her terrified features weighed on his heart as he watched her.

"Danny, please. You gotta help me."

* * *

"So, you've known all this time?"

They were finally able to get Kimmy's newfound powers in check and they had migrated to Danny's room where Kimmy was explaining everything: How she found out about her uncle's and Danny's powers at the reunion a few weeks ago, how her uncle immediately had them pack up and move to Amity Park, which was news to Danny. But ever since the day of the reunion Kimmy's life had been anything but back to normal. Suddenly she could "go through things", and turn invisible. She even found herself levitating on multiple occasions when she slept. At first, Danny wondered why she didn't tell her uncle? But on second thought that probably wasn't the best idea. He felt so bad, knowing exactly what she was going through, and she had to endure such fear and confusion by herself for these last few weeks. At least he had Sam and Tucker, but she was all alone. He sighed, "Kimmy, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's not your fault, Danny. I'm sorry I just dumped all of this in your lap. And in the middle of your parent's big fight." Kimmy rested her chin on her knees but Danny shook his head.

"No, it's okay. Listen, I don't know how much help I'll be, but I can try to help you with your powers. If you want me to, that is?" he rubbed the back of his neck nervously and Kimmy gave him a very soft smile. When she and her uncle finally got themselves moved into their new mansion she'd debated for almost an entire week on whether to ask Danny for help. But when her uncle enrolled her in Casper High she knew she wasn't going to have much of a choice. She couldn't tell her uncle, there's no telling what he would do to her or make her do. And no matter what she did she couldn't get a hold of her powers. She mostly stayed in her room, fearing that her uncle would see one of her "flickers". She was already terrified of going to public school, and having new ghost powers that she didn't know how to control was not going to help. Danny was her only shot at getting a handle on this.

"I would like that, yeah."

* * *

"You should've seen them fighting. My folks never fight." Danny walked down the halls of Casper High in between Sam and Tucker on their way to class, with his mistake weighing heavily on him. His parents still hadn't come home from Arkansas yet and he was getting worried. He thought over his own words and took a mental step back when he realized what he'd said, "Well, they fight ghosts. But that's different."

"Danny, relax." Sam rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Nobody gets divorced over not getting a gift."

"But it's the thing my dad's gonna use to apologize. They're right on the brink! I'm telling you, anything could set them over the edge."

"Danny, you're fine. I mean, it's not like your mom actually said the word 'divorce.' I mean, if she actually said the word, then you'd have to worry."

"Said the word?" Danny's heart dropped into his stomach at Tucker's words, "Oh, man. She did! She said the word!"

"Tucker," Sam scolded, "say something to calm him down!"

Tucker stuttered, trying to think fast, "Did she say it twice?"

"That settles it." Danny said, his features hard and determined.

"Settles what?"

The three of them turned around at the new voice standing behind them. Danny smiled at the sight of her, just now remembering that today was her first day, "Hey, Kimmy."

"You know the new girl?" Tucker said, wiggling his eyebrows at Kimmy who giggled in return, much to his surprise.

"Yeah, she's, uh, she's Vlad's niece."

"Vlad's niece?" Sam exclaimed, "As in Vlad Plasmius?"

"That'd be the one." Kimmy said, chuckling nervously, "Listen, I didn't mean to intrude, it's just…I have no idea where I'm going."

"No apology necessary," Tucker stepped up and offered his arm to her, "Tucker Foley at your service. Allow me to escort you to class."

"Uh," Kimmy eyed Danny questioningly but he only shrugged in return. She hooked her arm onto Tucker's with a nervous smile on her face, "Thank you."

The two walked off down the hall and Kimmy turned to give Danny one last look before Tucker took a sharp left. Danny chuckled and turned back to Sam, who was eyeing him suspiciously. He was taken aback by her expression and silently urged her to speak her mind.

"How do you know her?"

"I told you, my parents dragged Jazz and me to their stupid college reunion and it was being held at Vlad Masters place and she's his niece." Danny explained again, leading them towards their first class that they had together.

"Okay but why are you so buddy-buddy with her? She's Vlad Plasmius' niece!" Sam whispered that last part as if someone might know who he was and jump them for saying his name.

The two stepped into their classroom and took seats directly in the middle. They'd arrived a little early and still had some time to finish their conversation, "I know, but to be fair she didn't know that was him or that her uncle had ghost powers until the night of the reunion. Heck, she didn't even know that ghosts existed until the night of the reunion. And also," he cleared his throat and looked away from his best friend, "I may have forgot to mention, she also has ghost powers."

Sam sat up straight, her voice dropping to a low hiss, "What?"

Their teacher shut the classroom door, abruptly ending their conversation. But Sam made sure that Danny knew that it was far from over. However, after that class none of them saw each other until lunch. Sam and Danny were eating at their usual spot when Tucker approached them with Kimmy, settling in across from them.

"Hey, guys!" Tucker greeted.

"Hey, how's your first day so far, Kimmy?" Danny asked, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"So far so good." Kimmy replied, "It's a lot to take in, but I like it here." She smiled and reached for her lunch tote, but she was unable to grab it when her arm suddenly went right through it. She gasped and pulled it back out as her arm returned to normal. She was obviously freaked and immediately turned to Tucker and Sam, hoping neither of them noticed what had happened, but she had no such luck. Tucker was staring at her slack-jawed and she tensed up, turning to Danny for support. Sam was giving him the evil eye. They may not have been able to finish their conversation earlier but they surely were going to finish it now. Danny chuckled nervously, clearing his throat and turning to Kimmy, "Kimmy, it's okay. They know about my powers."

The blonde was a little taken aback, "They do?"

"Yes, we do. But I'm more interested in yours." Sam cut in, causing Kimmy to lean away from her threatening voice.

"Sam, cut it out. She got her powers by accident. She's not Plasmius' minion." Danny said.

"What?" Tucker and Kimmy exclaimed in confusion

"How does she know Plasmius?" Tucker questioned, obviously not present for the previous conversation earlier that day. He subtly slid away from Kimmy and she sighed and averted her eyes nervously.

"Because he's kind of, well, he's my uncle."

"Plasmius is your uncle?"

"Well, I guess technically yes. Vlad Masters is my uncle. And, as I recently found out, Vlad Masters is Vlad Plasmius."

"Who knew, right?"

"Listen," Danny jumped in, "that's not what matters. She's having some trouble learning to control her powers and I said I would help."

"Oh, cause that's reassuring. Plasmius' niece has ghost powers that she can't control." Sam sat back and crossed her arms, glaring at Kimmy. Kimmy's whole demeanor dropped and Danny started to scold his friend for her hateful words but Kimmy stopped him, "No, Danny, it's okay. I'll figure something out."

She gave a weak smile, obviously hurt and trying to hide it, and gathered her things. She stood and left, leaving Danny glaring at Sam but she didn't seem to think she'd done anything wrong.

"What?" she scowled.

"What's your problem, Sam?" Danny exclaimed.

"You barely know this girl, who's related to Plasmius, and has ghost powers she can't control, and you want to help her? She's dangerous and probably working for Plasmius!"

"Plasmius doesn't even know about her powers. She's completely alone with a set of ghost abilities that she knows absolutely nothing about. So yes, I want to help her. Because at least I had you guys to help me through when I got my powers, I would have thought at least you would have understood." Danny stood, huffing at Sam, "And maybe it would be nice to have someone who understands what I'm going through."

He left Sam and Tucker alone at the table and ran after Kimmy to apologize. Tucker was eyeing Sam angrily, "Nice move, Sam."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on. Class is about to start."

* * *

"Kimmy!" Danny ran into the school just after the blonde did and she turned to face him, a little shocked that he left his friends to come after her, "Danny?"

"Kimmy, I'm so sorry," he panted, out of breath from his short run. He really was more out of shape than he thought, "Listen, do you have plans after school?"

"Um, no, I don't think so. Why?"

"Sam, Tucker, and I were going to try and get my dad's gift to my mom back out of the Ghost Zone. I'd really love for you to be there."

Kimmy averted her eyes, "Are you sure? I don't think Sam likes me very much."

"No, it just…takes her a while to adjust to new people. It freaks her out. It's a goth thing."

Danny smiled at her and she knew he was making that up. But seeing how much effort he was putting into trying to help her filled her with joy and she nodded, "I'll be there."

* * *

"I so don't want to do this."

Danny stood in front of the ghost portal as Danny Phantom, decked out with a large piece of headgear to communicate with the Spector Speeder once he was inside. Sam joined him with a confident air about her, "You get in, get the present, and get out. You'll be fine."

"Besides, with this mini web cam, I'll be with you every step of the way." Tucker said, holding up his PDA, "But first…" he launched a gaming program and was immediately engrossed in the game. Danny and Sam rolled their eyes.

"You'll monitor the web cam?" Danny asked.

"I'll monitor the web cam." Sam assured.

Kimmy sat in the Spector Speeder glancing over all the buttons and switches surrounding her. She settled into the leather seat and took a deep breath when Danny peeked inside at her, "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied, trying to maintain an air of confidence, "Are you sure this is safe, Danny?"

He sighed, "No, but what choice do I have? This is the only way to rescue my parent's marriage."

She nodded and clambered out of the machine to join the rest of them. She had been taking great care to either avoid talking to Sam, or be on her best behavior around her. Danny took a moment to prepare himself, glancing back at his friends before he jumped into the Ghost Zone.

 _"_ _Wow, this place is amazing."_ Sam's voice came through on his headset and he scoffed, a shiver running down his spine.

"No, it's not. It's creepy." he disagreed. He was surrounded by an optical illusion with doors to nowhere and everywhere on all sides of him. Stairs that went every which way and led to nowhere tricked his brain, making him a little dizzy. Small bits of ectoplasm floated around and made him feel a little claustrophobic, "And it goes on forever. I don't even know where to start to look."

Danny reached for the nearest door and flew inside. He had to start somewhere, might as well be there. Inside was a small boy, no older than six. He was in a room all alone, watching TV happily with a few toys scattered about and Danny blinked in surprise.

"Um, hi." He let out a nervous laugh but the boy paid him no mind. Back in the real world looking through Tucker's PDA, Kimmy noticed that the boy was staring at static on the TV screen. She found that to be super creepy but she remained silent. Maybe that was normal in their world.

"Have you seen a present?" Danny stuttered, "Um, about yea big?"

The boy's face went from happy to angry very quickly. He turned his head to face Danny, then proceeded to turn his head in a full 180, as a low growl emanated from his throat. Danny took a step back as the little boy grew enormous in size and horns sprouted from his head and back. His nails grew into talons and his skin seems to turn scaly. Danny could hear Kimmy squeak through his headset and Sam's voice warning him to get out of there through his headset.

"Get out of my room!" the boy was no longer a small child, but a ginormous horned monster towering over Danny, who was now apologizing profusely before darting out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him.

"Oh, man." Danny breathed, "Every one of these doors goes into another ghost's lair. I'm never gonna find that present. My folks are gonna get divorced and it's gonna be all my fault."

 _"_ _Oh, Danny, no. We'll find the present!"_ Kimmy reassured through his headset, _"_ _You can't give up now!"_

"I don't see how." He pouted. His weight pulled the door out of the ecto-clouds and down to solid ground. He found himself surrounded by graves of all shapes and sizes, and it was quiet. He felt safe for the moment, but that moment was suddenly soiled by the emergence of boney hands shooting out of the ground in front of him. Glowing green skeletons started crawling out of their graves towards him and he called out in distress, tripping backwards over the door he'd just escaped from before taking to the skies and flying out of danger.

 _"_ _Relax, Danny. We all just have to stay focused."_ Sam reassured, _"_ _Right, Tucker?"_

Silence.

 _"_ _Tucker?"_

Back home, Sam and Kimmy were hunched over the PDA watching Danny's back. But when they got no response from Tucker, the two of them turned to see if he was even still there. They found him in the Spector Speeder messing with all the controls, obviously in his happy place surrounded by all that technology. "I can't believe Danny didn't want to take the Specter Speeder. This thing rocks!"

"He can cover more ground on his own." Sam replied.

"But it's got a cup-holder."

"Are you sure you should be messing with the controls like that?" Kimmy warned, following Sam into the machine.

"It's perfectly fine, I know exactly what I'm doing." Tucker said proudly, "Hey, what's this thing do?"

"Exactly what you're doing, huh?" she muttered under her breath. Sam may still have had her on high surveillance, she had to admit that was funny and chuckled quietly to herself. She settled in beside Tucker and glanced at the switch he was talking about. Right in the middle of the controls was a big red button, only labeled by a picture of a poorly drawn green ghost. Tucker didn't hesitate to press it with the girls looking on quizzically.

"REAL WORLD ITEMS DETECTED." The scanner's voice informed them. A holographic map of the Ghost Zone appeared in front of them and the three of them smiled.

"Real world items?" Sam restated. Smirks grew on all their faces and Tucker grabbed his PDA back from Sam.

 _"_ _Danny, I think we can guide you to the present."_

Danny was flying through the Ghost Zone with a newfound determination when Tucker came in on his headset. There was some shuffling and then Sam's voice came through, _"_ _There's a doorway coming up on your left. Take it."_

Danny did as he was instructed and found himself surrounded by a multitude of random household objects: toaster, basketball, watches, a trumpet, envelopes, and few articles of clothing. All of it floating aimlessly around him, "Huh. So, this is where all that stuff ends up."

"Yes!" a man dressed in some sort of factory uniform appeared out of thin air in front of Danny, startling him with his loud voice, "It all ends up in the possession of The Box Ghost!"

Danny sighed in frustration, "What are you doing here?"

 _"_ _You all know this guy?"_ Kimmy said through his headset. He could hear Sam and Tucker make the same unimpressed sigh as he did.

 _"_ _Yeah, he likes to cause general mayhem around town every once in a while. But generally, he's pretty harmless."_ Tucker explained.

"I am the Box Ghost!" The Box Ghost regained Danny's attention, "Where do you think we go when you release us from your round, cylindrical trap?"

"You mean the Fenton Thermos?" Danny corrected.

There was a moment of confused silence from the ghost before his eyebrows lowered in determination, "I am the Box Ghost! And beware! For I am merely one of your foes who reside in this realm. In fact, you might say…We're a package deal!"

The ghost was too busy laughing at his own joke to see the intense eyeroll he received from Danny.

 _"_ _He's not the brightest ghost in the Zone, is he?"_ Kimmy said.

"Look, I'm looking for something important. I don't have time for your box puns." Danny tried to explain but it was no use. He was cut short by the sound of police sirens that were getting louder by the second. To his surprise, the Box Ghost looked a little scared of what the siren brought with it.

"Flee!" he said, "Lest you be hermetically sealed and shipped to your doom!"

The Box Ghost tried to make a run for it, blasts of green energy following behind, but it was no use. He was hit and found his hands bound in front of him by whatever the blast was. Danny looked around frantically to determine the origin of the blasts but he was too late. A blunt pain hit him from the side and he found his hands and feet bound as well.

 _"_ _Danny, what's going on?"_

 _"_ _Danny what's happening?"_

The girls came through on his headset but he didn't hear them. The blast caused him to momentarily black out and he was floating unconscious in the Ghost Zone. A tall man with skeleton like features, dressed sharply in an all-white suit and 1920's style gangster hat stood over him, "Possession of unauthorized recording equipment. That's against the rules."

His vision was blurry and his head was pounding but Danny tried to focus on his attacker. The man he recognized from his last brief tip into the Ghost Zone reached out and pulled the headset from his head, his glowing green eyes examining it attentively.

"Or at least it is now." he pulled a large, official looking book from behind him that read "RULES" and opened it up. Danny wasn't sure what he was about to do but he knew it couldn't be good.

"Wait! This is all a big misunderstanding." He said.

"There might be chaos everywhere else in this Ghost Zone, but there'll be order in my prison." He kneeled down to hover over Danny threateningly, "You should have heeded my warning, punk. Now you and I have a problem."


	4. Prisoners of Love, Part 2

"Danny? Danny?! Talk to me!" Tucker was shaking his PDA and yelling at it, hoping to get something that would tell them their friend was okay but there was only static.

"It's no use. He can't hear us." Kimmy said, obvious panic in her voice.

"Then we'll just have to go in after him."

"What are you, nuts?" Sam exclaimed.

"Danny? Are you down there?" Jazz's faint voice reached them from upstairs and the three of them blinked, swiftly adjusting themselves so that they were hidden in the seat of the Spector Seeker, hoping that if they were quiet enough then Jazz would simply go away. But they had no such luck. She continued to call down to the lab, yelling all their names in the hopes of a response. Sam was quick to change her mind about going into the Ghost Zone when she realized that Jazz was coming down the stairs and they were running out of time. She turned Kimmy and herself around and buckled them in before instructing Tucker to drive.

"What?!" Kimmy exclaimed quietly, but it was too late. Tucker punched it and they were zooming off into the portal before she could argue.

* * *

"Face it, Tucker, we're lost."

Sam, Tucker, and Kimmy were trying everything they could think of to find Danny but Sam and Tucker had been arguing for the past twenty minutes on whether they were lost and Kimmy had just about had enough. She was still trying to stay on her best behavior around Sam and so she remained quiet. Even if she did say something, she didn't have any more of a clue as to where they were than they did so really it was pointless. Something had screwed up the systems during takeoff so that they were unable to use the scanner until Tucker recalibrated it, but Sam was becoming impatient.

"You put way too much faith in technology. Let's just get out and ask that girl for directions."

Kimmy looked up to see who Sam was talking about. The girl seemed nice enough and Tucker reluctantly stopped the vehicle so that Sam could stand to knock on the windshield to grab the ghost's attention, "Hello there."

At first Kimmy thought they might have had some luck. The ghost stopped and Kimmy was able to get a good look at her. She was dressed in medieval clothing, with long blonde hair braided down her back and a solemn look on her face. She was absolutely beautiful. But just as soon as Sam grabbed her attention she began to glow, her form changing and growing until they were face to face with a large blue dragon. An angry large, blue dragon.

"I want to go to the ball!" the dragon's voice rumbled deep and made the Spector Seeker shake a little. Kimmy screamed and Sam fell back into her seat and the girls held on to each other in fear, yelling at Tucker to drive. He hit the gas but the dragon followed after them, staying right on their tail no matter what they did.

"Can't this tub go any faster?" Sam exclaimed.

"I'm trying!" Tucker said, "We're also looking for Danny, too, you know."

The dragon shoved its shoulder up under them and tipped them over on their side until it let them back down. All three of them were wracking their brains, trying to come up with a plan to get them out of this mess, when the scanner suddenly came back to life, "REAL-WORLD ITEM DETECTED."

Tucker smirked and immediately charted a course that followed the scanners coordinates. They disappeared into some thick clouds, hindering their vision completely. They might not have been able to see, but neither could the dragon, and they took that as a blessing. Kimmy pressed her face to the glass window to look for any sign that the ghost dragon was still following them but it was no use, she couldn't see anything. Though in her mind, no news was good news. She relaxed a moment, allowing her heart rate to slow back down to normal. Sam was helping Tucker with his PDA and neither of them were watching where they were going, leaving Kimmy to keep watch. For a while she could see nothing. Just large shades of green ecto-clouds. When a large shadow appeared just ahead of them, she sat forward in her seat to try and get a closer look. The clouds started to dissipate and she realized the shadow was a large steel building and they were heading straight for it. She tried to get Sam's attention by tapping her shoulder but she was ignoring her, shoving her away. A line of green spikes attached to blue scales slithered right by Kimmy's window and she peered outside to see that the dragon had caught up to them. Kimmy didn't know what to do. She repeatedly tried to warn them and when they were just about to crash into the wall she just screamed in terror, finally getting Sam and Tucker's attention but it was too late. They screamed at what was surely the end for them when they simply phased through the wall safely, leaving the dragon to crash and effectively get her off their trail.

"File that one under 'would have been nice to know we could do that trick in the first place.'" Tucker said, his whole body shaking.

"Kimmy, was that you?" Sam questioned, trying to wrap her head around what just happened.

"Me? Should I be able to do that?" Kimmy was in shock. This was way more adventure than she ever hoped for.

Tucker continued to simply drive through all the walls of the building, following the scanner and hoping that Danny was somewhere nearby. They were just starting to get desperate when Kimmy suddenly yelled at him to stop. He hit the brakes right next to Danny who was being pinned down by a large man with a skeletal face, dressed similarly to a 1920's gangster. His glowing green eyes shooting daggers at the three newcomers in anger.

"Tucker! Sam! Kimmy! How'd you get in here?" Danny said, grunting in pain when his captor pushed his foot down harder into his chest.

"Check it out! Real-world stuff just phases through everything in here." Tucker explained.

"In the Ghost Zone, we're the ghosts." Sam smiled.

"We're the ghosts?" Danny pondered, "So, maybe it's time to stop fighting like a ghost, and start fighting like a kid."

Danny morphed back into his human form with a victorious smirk and the ghost's foot simply phased right through him, just like Sam, Tucker, and Kimmy said it would. He stood with a newfound determination and walked right through the warden, grabbing the present and starting back towards the Spector Seeker.

"Why can't I touch you?!" the warden complained, reaching out for Danny in the hopes to recapture his prisoner. But no matter what he did, his hands simply went right through him, much to Danny's happiness.

"Forget it, Walker. This is the Ghost Zone. I'm not just a ghost, I'm human. Your rules don't apply." Danny grabbed on to the back of the Spector Seeker and tucker flew them out of there. They stopped to let Danny in and quickly sped off towards the Fenton's ghost portal. Once they were there, Danny hugged his friends tight and thanked them profusely before taking off up the stairs to find his sister so they could go rescue their parent's marriage.

"Wow, glad that's over." Tucker muttered. Sam smiled in agreement and was about to follow Tucker up the stairs but something made her stop. She turned back to see Kimmy quietly climbing out of the machine and Sam couldn't help but smile. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

"Hey." Kimmy looked up at Sam's greeting and blinked in surprise, unsure how to respond. But to her surprise, Sam started rubbing the back on her neck and looking away guiltily, "Listen, um, I'm sorry about all that stuff I said about you and your uncle. You tried to warn us in there and we…I just blew you off. I'm sorry."

It took a moment for Kimmy to process Sam's words but she felt a sudden joy in her heart and a big smile spread across her face, "It's, um, it's okay. I realize that you and Danny are very close and I never meant to impose."

"It's hard to be the new girl, and Danny was just trying to help like he always does." Sam smiled and held out her hand, "Friends?"

"Friends." Kimmy didn't hesitate to shake her hand and the two joined Tucker up in the Fenton's living room. Danny and Jazz were already gone and they three of them walked out into the streets of Amity Park, Kimmy's new home. And now that she actually had some friends, it really felt like home.


	5. My Brother's Keeper, Part 1

Weeks had passed since the Fenton's anniversary and thus far things had basically gone back to normal. They all went back to school where Kimmy was settling in quite well, keeping mostly to herself and spending most of her time with Danny and Sam and Tucker. She had managed to keep her powers under control for the most part and hidden from her uncle since Danny had been helping her. She'd stopped "flickering," as she called it, but she was still very weak and only had a few of the same abilities as Danny. They were beginning to think that maybe she just ended up with a few powers and nothing else. She hadn't been able to transform completely into a ghost and she was almost grateful for it. It was a lot easier to hide something like ghost powers when you didn't look like a ghost. There were, however, a surge of ghosts that Danny had to take care of these past few weeks. Everywhere he turned there was some other creature attacking something or someone in Amity Park.

"Danny, are you sure you're okay?" Kimmy asked. The two were walking down the halls of Casper High on the way to lunch and it was clear that Danny hadn't been sleeping very much. He had bags under his bloodshot eyes and his whole demeanor was very solemn.

"Yeah, I'm fine. There's just been so many ghosts around lately, I-" he stopped when he felt the cold sensation of a nearby ghost. Kimmy stopped as well, their breaths visible in front of them. They looked around and Kimmy brought his attention to the nearest office window where a very average looking green ghost was watching them.

"Cover me." Danny hopped into a nearby locker and quickly changed into his ghost form. He flew out and followed Kimmy intangibly through the office door. They found the ghost rummaging through the desk, only stopping when Kimmy and Danny appeared.

"Ready to test those skills we've been practicing?" Danny smirked at Kimmy.

"You bet."

Since Danny had been teaching her and practicing with her the two had managed to become a pretty good team. They could read each other and play off the other's movements with ease, getting a few hits in on the ghost in front of them. The fight didn't last long and the ghost managed to get away, leaving Danny frustrated and angry as he turned human again, "Good one, Fenton. You let him get away, you idiot."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Danny. We'll catch him." Kimmy stood up straight and looked around the wrecked office with a grimace, "But we better get out of here before someone catches us."

Unfortunately, Kimmy spoke too soon. Just as the words left her mouth the door opened to reveal Mr. Lancer and Jazz standing in the doorway. Danny and Kimmy's shoulders slumped when Mr. Lancer gave them both a look that Danny knew all too well. They eventually found themselves sitting in the very office that they'd wrecked with the staff member that it belonged too, Ms. Spectra.

"Is it always so cold in here?" Kimmy asked quietly.

"Of course." Said Ms. Spectra, turning the temperature even lower as she spoke. Her breath was visible from the cold but she didn't seem to mind, "I find that cold temperatures keep the mind icy sharp. And don't you worry about this mess of an office, either. Stuff happens. No biggie. Right, Jasmine?"

"It's Jazz. My friends call me Jazz."

"Yeah, well, your brother calls you a fink!" Danny cut in.

"Danny, I'm just trying to help. Come one, we used to talk all the time."

"Yeah, when I was eight and you weren't a fink."

"Danny." Kimmy warned quietly, but Mr. Lancer approached them with his arms crossed and a very scary look in his eyes.

"That's more than enough out of you, Fenton." He said, "You and Miss Millerton get to class while Ms. Spectra and I decide what your punishment is."

Danny gave his sister one last nasty glance before storming out of the office. Kimmy started to follow but Mr. Lancer stopped her, "I expected more from you, Miss Millerton. I'll be informing your uncle of your behavior today."

Kimmy merely nodded her head and walked out in silence. Her uncle was not going to be happy about this.

* * *

Danny sat outside of Ms. Spectra's office looking disgruntled and generally unhappy. As punishment for his actions he was being forced to have a session with the councilor about his behavior as of late and whoever was before him was running over their allotted time. Just when he was about to give up and leave, the door opened and, to his surprise, Kimmy walked out just in front of Ms. Spectra. She looked downright awful. She was holding herself, her skin looked pale, purple even, and tired. She glanced at Danny and he could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes. And when he looked closer, he thought he saw a white streak in her blonde hair that wasn't there before.

"Don't worry, sweetie. We'll work on it." Ms. Spectra assured her before turning to Danny, "Danny, come on in."

The therapist went back into her office and Danny watched Kimmy go with a look of concern before stepping into the office and closing the door behind him. He could immediately start seeing his breath and his body started to shiver from the cold.

"I can't believe my stupid sister convinced Lancer to make this our punishment." Danny took a seat on front of Ms. Spectra's desk and rubbed his upper arms to keep warm, "And can we please turn up the heat in here? I can see my own breath."

"Wow, you do complain a lot." Ms. Spectra replied, "Well, your sister did say you could be a bit of a baby."

"What?!"

"Sweetie, it's not your fault she thinks you're a loser."

"Wait, Jazz called me a loser, too?" Danny's blood started to boil in anger as Ms. Spectra tried to half-heartedly calm him down.

"Hey, those are her issues. I'm not saying you're a loser, Danny. I think you're a great kid." She stood and walked around to stand behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders in support. Danny immediately felt a sense of dread wash over him as his posture slumped, "Then why do I feel so miserable?"

"You know what I think? You might be a mess, but 'mess' is just the beginning of 'message.' Now go out there and be a better you."

Danny eyed her oddly, but he suddenly felt as if he had no energy to argue and simply stood to leave, unceremoniously hitting the door frame on his way out just as the school bell rang for the next class. He found Sam, Tucker, and Kimmy waiting for him outside the office with Kimmy looking about as good as he felt and the four of them started off down the hall.

"Are you guys okay?" Tucker asked. Kimmy looked as if someone just killed her puppy while Danny seemed like he was ready to commit murder in the first degree. Kimmy sighed, pulling her school books closer to her chest.

"Fine." She said shortly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I can't believe my sister told that shrink I'm a loser." Danny replied.

"Are you sure Jazz said that?" Sam inquired suspiciously, "That doesn't sound like Jazz to me."

"Hey, you guys." Jazz stopped them in their tracks, taking them off guard and putting a swift end to their conversation, "What doesn't sound like Jazz to you?"

Danny narrowed his eyes at her in response.

"Still mad?"

"Wow, you are the smart one." Danny spat, sarcasm dripping off every word he spoke.

"Danny, I know you're angry but I'm worried about you. Ever since the accident-"

"Jazz, I know you think you're helping and I'm sure when I'm older I'll appreciate it, but right now, I don't."

"You have to talk to somebody, Danny. You barely have any friends. Besides these three. And you have absolutely no extracurricular activities."

Sam and Tucker looked on at the elder Fenton angrily while Kimmy was secretly happy to be included, while also simultaneously offended. Tucker leaned into the girls and pulled his hand up to cover his mouth, "Unless you count the ghosts."

Sam gritted her teeth and warned him to shut his mouth, but Kimmy was strangely overcome with fear at the mention of the word ghosts. She paled and swallowed, hoping no one noticed her body shaking. She was in luck when Danny suddenly lashed out at his sister, bringing their attention to him, "Well, maybe this is me now, huh? Not everybody's pumped up full of spirit all the time, you know."

He turned his back on her and jolted a bit when his ghost sense alerted him to danger. He glanced at Kimmy and found her terrified features watching him. She was shaking and Danny briefly wondered what had her so shaken up. He looked around and found his surroundings ghost free as his own body started to shake.

"Danny? You're shivering." Jazz tried to reach out to him but he shoved her away.

"Leave me alone!"

He took off down the hall at record speed. Jazz watched him go with a heartbreaking look of concern, "It's worse than I thought."

The students around them started to panic, yelling about a freakishly large hornet flying around the school. Jazz's eyes followed the sea of students until she was face to face with the largest insect she'd ever seen in her short life. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as it charged her and Sam, Tucker, and Kimmy watched on in fear helplessly. Sam and Tucker turned to Kimmy expectantly.

"Kimmy, you gotta do something!" Tucker said. The hornet took hold of Jazz and Kimmy felt tears brim in her eyes, stuttering to get any words out. She felt herself start to flicker – invisible, visible, intangible, tangible. She took a deep breath and held her hands up to try and put up a ghost shield, but the power flickered out as soon as it was visible in her palms.

"I – I can't. I'm so sorry." She shook her head in shame and took off down the hall away from everyone. Sam called out to her but either she didn't hear her or she was ignoring her. Something was obviously wrong and Sam knew they needed to find her but they had no time. Danny finally reappeared as Danny Phantom and knocked the bug into the next room, exclaiming something about a ghost bug. Jazz stood in shock, mumbling about her realization of the ghost attack that just about ended her life. Sam and Tucker were quick to deter her and get her out of danger, blending in with the large crowd of students.

Outside Danny managed to bring the ghost bug down to Earth but not for long. It was quickly back in the air and he stood ready to fight it, "Somebody called for an exterminator?"

"My, you are clever, aren't you?" the bug said, ecto-drool dripping from its mouth, "Swat this, big boy."

The hornet charged at Danny stinger first and he braced himself for impact. It slashed his arm and ectoplasm started pouring from the wound. The pain was momentarily crippling and it sent Danny down to the ground, cursing himself for not going intangible, "Idiot! I'm not getting better at this. I'm getting worse."

"Isn't that your little ghost friend?" the hornet pulled his attention away from the pain in his arm and his green eyes spotted Kimmy running away from the school building alone. She'd broken away from the chaos and was now heading straight for the courtyard where Danny was trying to take this monster down. At first he was grateful for the backup, but he quickly realized that she was in no shape to fight – something was definitely wrong.

"Kimmy, look out!" He called. She looked up and saw the ghost coming at her. She screamed in fear and tripped backwards into the grass. She tried once again to shield herself with her powers but it was no use. Part of her leg went intangible and started to sink into the ground instead. She was a goner. She covered her eyes and prepared for the worst but found herself covered by a cold body. Danny had covered her and created a shield around them both, sending the hornet flying backwards.

"All right, pal," he stood and pulled out the Fenton Thermos, "Time for you to –"

There was nobody there. The ghost had vanished, leaving Danny and Kimmy alone in the courtyard. Danny huffed and sheathed the Thermos, "Gone. Great. Another bad guy gets away. Maybe Jazz was right. Maybe I am a loser."

"You're not a loser, Danny." Kimmy said quietly behind him. He turned and found her struggling to go intangible and free herself but she just kept glowing green, her raw power engulfing her body.

"Here," he kneeled down and rested a hand on her knee, freeing her body from the earth and helping her to her feet. She wasn't looking at him and now that he was up close he could clearly see that he'd been right before in that nearly half of her hair had gone white.

"What's wrong with your powers? It's like we never practiced at all." He said. She wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. He hadn't noticed before, but she was shaking. It was as if her whole body was trembling in fear but he had a feeling that it was something else. He was about to ask when she took an unusually long time to reply but she bit her lip and started to take a few steps back away from him, "I'll just…see you later, Danny."

"Wait!" he tried to stop her but she ran off – away from the school and down the road back to her house. He slumped at the weight of his miserable failure; he was getting worse at fighting ghosts, he was exhausted, his grades were slipping, his own sister thought he was a loser, and now one of his best friends, and one of the only people who truly understand what he was going through, wouldn't even look him in the eye. He scowled, frustrated with himself. He would have to check on Kimmy later because at that moment Mr. Lancer, Ms. Spectra, and Jazz came around the corner looking for him.


	6. My Brother's Keeper, Part 2

The next day at school, Sam and Tucker found themselves terrified and cornered by a very adamant Jasmine Fenton in the hall. When she was on a mission like this, there was nothing they could do, she would have her answers no matter how she got them.

"Don't you think he's been acting weird?" she said, "I mean, haven't you noticed how gloomy and negative he's been lately?"

"Uh, Jazz, we're Danny's friends. That means we keep his secrets from you." Tucker said, hoping to get her off their trail. But Jazz didn't falter. She merely reached into her purse and pulled out a crisp twenty dollar bill and offered it to him. He smirked and took it, easily swayed in tight situations but Sam was quick to intervene. She grabbed the money and handed it back to Jazz politely.

"We've all got our problems, Jazz." She assured, "I know you're worried, but Danny's okay. He keeps some things to himself, but it's not like he's doing anything criminal."

Jazz's shoulders slumped, her brain trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together. Sam and Tucker weren't giving her anything to go on so she would be forced to seek other resources. She thought of Kimmy and her sudden absence. She also hadn't been acting herself the last time she saw her. As if on cue, Kimmy turned the corner of the hall with her books held close to her chest and her head down under the hood of the deep purple hoodie she was wearing. Sam could see what was about to happen and tried to warn Kimmy to turn back around but it was too late. Jazz had already spotted her and ran to catch up to her, startling her in the process. Kimmy gasped and dropped her books, scattering them all over the floor. Jazz apologized, leaning down to help pick them up but Kimmy was too busy hiding her hands to help. Sam and Tucker watched curiously, realizing that Jazz hadn't knocked the books out of Kimmy's hands but that when she'd scared her the poor girl's hands went intangible and her books fell through her hands. For a moment, Sam and Tucker thought they might have to step in and help Kimmy hide her hands but they relaxed when they saw the relief wash over Kimmy's face as her hands became tangible again just as Jazz handed her books to her.

"Something is seriously wrong with Kimmy." Tucker said. To be honest, they were really worried about both Danny and Kimmy. Danny was never in a good mood these days and with Kimmy's powers going haywire, it was no wonder the two of them were so stressed.

"I know. She was doing so well, why is she having such a hard time now?" Sam replied.

"I dunno, but – huh?"

Their conversation was interrupted by loud fire alarms blaring all over the school. Sprinklers jutted out of the ceiling, drenching the entire student body and staff as they ran out into the courtyard. Sam and Tucker were about to follow when they saw Danny with one strap of his backpack pulling the fire alarm, trying to free himself. They rushed to help him, untangling him from his backpack and met a soaking wet Kimmy and Jazz outside. Jazz started hammering Danny with questions as soon as he stepped foot on the grass, making him wish he was still tangled up in his backpack straps. He assured her that he was just fine, clearly aggravated by his sister's coddling. He crossed his arms and turned away from her, spotting Kimmy slipping her hoodie over her head and making a disgusted face at the sopping wet material. Even with the hoodie, her lavender shirt underneath was still soaking wet as was her hair that was now dripping water as well. That's what caught his attention. Her hair, even though it was darkened by the water, was completely white. Danny would even dare to say it was ghost white. Her hair was already fairly light with its blonde color to begin with so it was hard to tell but he knew. And he wasn't the only one: Sam and Tucker were also staring wide-eyed at their friend. When she finally noticed, Kimmy gave a shaky smile and waved nervously at them.

"Kimmy," Danny approached her, "Are you alright? Your hair, it's-!"

"I know. I was going to come talk to you, but I – "

"Fenton!" Lancer stormed over to their small group with water dripping off of his nose, "Did you do this?"

"It was an accident, Mr. Lancer." Sam said.

"An accident? How do you accidently wrap your fingers around a lever in a wall and pull it down?"

"Well, to be fair, it was his backpack that did it." Tucker muttered.

"This'll be a month's worth of detention for you, Fenton."

"A month's detention?" Danny exclaimed, "But I didn't do anything."

"Hey, Mr. Lancer," Ms. Spectra approached the argument, completely dry and hair looking perfect unlike everyone else, "It was an accident. But we're gonna take that accident and make it an acci-don't and learn from it so it never happens again."

"But-!"

"No buts." Mr. Lancer warned, "You could learn a little bit about school spirit from Ms. Spectra here. When I was in school, I got the same advice. And look how I turned out."

Mr. Lancer was quick to show off his old cheerleading moves with a full-on stag leap, to which Danny and Kimmy exchanged uncomfortable glances. Either way, Danny was stuck with a full month's detention and more sessions with Ms. Spectra. But he wasn't the only one; more and more students were getting sessions with the new school counselor and more and more students were losing their school spirit. More than that, they were losing all hope of happiness.

* * *

Danny sat in Ms. Spectra's office, dressed in his tee-shirt, top hat, and adult diaper, with a sash across his chest that read 'SPIRIT'. He'd never been more embarrassed in his life.

"And this is supposed to help me how?" he said through gritted teeth.

"We're gonna help you overcome your fear of being called a baby." Ms. Spectra replied.

Danny plopped down in the chair behind him, "I'm not afraid of being called a baby. I'm afraid of being called a loser."

"Ahh, and therein lies the problem. You care too much what other people think."

"Where do you want us to put these banners up, Miss-"

Danny and Ms. Spectra turned to the door where some of the football team, including Dash, were walking in with boxes full of Spirit Week decorations. As soon as they got sight of Danny's new outfit, Dash was quick to poke fun, much to Danny's embarrassment, "Hey, guys, check it out. It's the Casper High Spirit Baby!"

The guys all burst into a fit of laughter and Danny slumped in shame. Ms. Spectra placed a supportive hand on his shoulder as he let out a deep sigh.

"Hi, Ms. Spectra."

Danny looked up at the familiar voice and found Sam and Tucker dropping Kimmy off. She entered the office holding one of her arms and looking down and away with look of exhaustion on her face. She looked so down and broken, which was about how he felt. Her hair was tucked under a beanie hat with bits of white strands escaping the sides, and she started shivering as soon as she walked in.

Ms. Spectra got rid of the football players and stepped out of the room for a moment while Tucker nonchalantly took a few snapshots of Danny on his PDA before they exchanged Kimmy for Danny, leaving the poor girl alone with the councilor to endure another happy go lucky session with her.

* * *

After school, Sam, Tucker, and Danny met up at the local pharmacy where Kimmy said she would meet them after her session. Some students from Casper High were also there and it seemed that a lot of them were starting to have a lot of doubts about themselves stemming from their sessions with Ms. Spectra.

"Man, it was brutal making you wear that stupid baby suit. I could hardly watch." Tucker said, "Though I did get some good digital pics."

"Hey! Whose side are you on, anyway?" Danny shoved Tucker's PDA out of his face in anger.

"Danny, come on, you know he's kidding." Sam said.

Danny grumbled in defeat, "Yeah, I know. I don't get it. Why am I so depressed and angry all the time? That shrink was supposed to be helping me. Ever since I started talking to her, I've been feeling worse."

"You're not the only one. Kimmy's been pretty down in the dumps, too." Tucker said. Sam nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I know. I'm really worried about her."

"Between the two of you we're starting to get really worried." Sam said. About that time, Kimmy walked through the door and joined their table. She gave them a quiet greeting and buried her head in her arms so that nothing could be seen but her hat.

"Hey, Kimmy, how was Ms. Spectra?" Sam rubbed her back and she received nothing but a shrug of the girl's shoulders.

"Hey, Danny, how's it goin'?" Jazz approached the group and Danny was quick to bring a scowl to his features.

"Like you care. Just go away, Jazz."

He rested his cheek in the palm of his hand but muttered a curse when Kimmy's head suddenly popped up in fear, their cold breaths visible as a sign that a ghost was near. Danny looked around and saw a ghost phase through from the ground and hover behind his crush, Paulina. He had to think fast before she or anyone else got hurt. He turned back to Kimmy and lowered his voice, "We have to keep Jazz busy."

Panic rose in Kimmy's throat a bit too late. Before she could protest, Danny took her hand and brought them to their feet, "Yeah, well, if you're gonna take her side, then you hang with her, too." Danny raised his voice at his friends, who sat and took it with knowing, but afraid expressions. He swung his sister into his seat and grabbed Kimmy's hand, "Here, take my seat. You've already taken my friends. Kimmy is my best friend now."

He dragged Kimmy back through the employees only room and out to the back. He stopped in the alleyway and looked around to make sure the coast was clear.

"Danny, wait." Kimmy said, her voice full of panic, "How am I going to help? My ghost powers are going haywire and I don't have a ghost form. If people see me, I'll be found out! And so will you."

A familiar ring of energy engulfed Danny as he changed into a ghost, blinking his now green eyes into focus. He was so brave, so determined to help his friends, she couldn't tell him that for reasons she couldn't explain she was terrified of ghosts and her own ghost powers. She couldn't explain why that for weeks she'd fought several ghosts, almost begun to master her new abilities and now she couldn't even hear the word without trembling. Danny could see her fear and he placed his hands on her shoulders in reassurance, "It'll be okay, I promise. You can help keep people out of harm's way so that I can worry about the ghost without anyone getting hurt."

Kimmy took a deep breath, looking up to the sky in defeat. She agreed and Danny wrapped his arm around her waist, taking off into the air with his legs fusing into a ghostly tail, allowing him to fly faster. Kimmy looked back at the ground and found Jazz watching them go with a horrified look on her face and a bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Had Jazz just found them out? It didn't matter, she had no time to contemplate when Danny flew into the Pharmacy intangibly and set Kimmy down behind a shelf. She came running out into the open and began screaming about a ghost behind Paulina, making a scene and attempting to get everyone out of the shop. It worked for the most part, save for a few stragglers that she had to handle. When the last person was running out into the street Tucker and Sam came bursting in and Kimmy felt a little bit of relief in their presence. If she needed to use her powers they would help cover for her. Granted her powers cooperated to begin with.

A loud crash grabbed their attention and they found Danny lying amongst a pile of backpacks, the ghost approaching him with an evil smile, "You're not very good at this, are you?"

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't need to be to beat you." Danny spat.

With a scowl, the ghost's shape began to change, shifting into a large feline of some sort, ready to pounce. It charged at Danny and he started to dodge it but he was too slow. It's teeth ripping away a bit of his clothes and flesh and green ectoplasm dripped from his torso as he stood trapped in a corner.

"Hey! Get away from him." Tucker grabbed the ghost's attention and it wasted no time in switching preys. Tucker immediately regretted his words when he was face to face with a malicious, green, ghost jaguar, "Or don't, seriously, it's open for discussion."

"No! You leave them alone!" Kimmy jumped into the fight without thinking, tackling the ghost and tumbling a few feet away. Her plan backfired when she ended up with her hands pinned down by the jaguar's huge paws. She struggled to break free but it was no use. She was weak, and her powers were so flaky she could barely make a spark happen for her ectobeams.

"Oh, look," the ghost taunted, "the little loser ghost has a few baby helpers."

Something stirred inside Kimmy as the anger boiled in her chest. She closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to control her emotions but she was too far gone. When her eyes opened, the ghost was taken aback to find what once was blue was now a glowing green. The freckles on her cheeks began to glow and Sam and Tucker watched on in awe as a ring of energy surrounded their friend. She screamed in agony as the energy pulled her ghost form into existence and she felt her whole body change. She was cold, absolutely freezing, but it felt natural. There was an energy force pitting in her center of gravity, something that she'd felt a tingle of before when she'd been practicing with Danny but this was so much stronger. The ghost that had her pinned started to back away but she made sure to grab hold so he wouldn't escape.

"Do…not…call…him…a loser." She tucked her legs up under her and jutted her heels into the ghost's gut, throwing him over her head and away from Sam and Tucker, into a glass case. Glass went everywhere and Danny had to shield his eyes with one arm to protect himself from the blast. He had one hand keeping pressure on his wound that was slowly starting to stop oozing and he watched in awe as a green light from Kimmy's hands as she floated unsteadily in the air. She was wobbly, and she looked absolutely terrified, but she tried for a shot at the ghost and missed, destroying a whole wall display.

"Well," the ghost sat triumphantly on the other side of the store, wagging his tail smugly, "that's enough damage for one afternoon."

The ghost bid them farewell and Danny was quick to his feet, rushing to Kimmy's aid as she tried to ease herself down to the ground, stumbling a little when her feet hit the tile and Danny caught her before she fell.

"Kimmy, are you okay?" he said. Her eyes were droopy and she was sore, but she was alive. Sort of.

"I'm, uh, I'm fine." She gained her ghost legs and steadied herself, "Are you okay, Danny? You're really hurt."

She hesitantly motioned to the large cut on his side and he finally got a good look at it. It wasn't too bad. He just needed to clean it up and put a few bandages on and he'd be fine. Sam and Tucker joined them, looking at them both in awe.

"Kimmy, what happened?" Tucker asked. When she gave him a strange look, Sam led her to a nearby mirror that now had a long crack in it from the fight. One look at her face and Kimmy squeaked and took a step back. Her eyes were green, and so were the freckles that were so prominent on her cheeks. If she had been freaked out about her hair turning white before, she was really freaked out now. Long, teal-blue locks fell down her back, floating around her in soft waves. A noise of concern came from her throat as she looked down and found that even her clothes had changed: her favorite lavender midriff had lost all its color so that it was as white as Danny's hair. Her pants were black, as if she'd changed into a pair of leggings and she wore white boots that came all the way up to her thighs, and black gloves that reached past her elbows. She turned to face her friends with wide, terrified eyes.

"I'm a…ghost."


	7. My Brother's Keeper, Part 3

"Don't panic, just breath."

"Don't panic? I'm a ghost, Sam!"

They managed to get Kimmy back to Danny's house and up to his bedroom where she was now pacing back in forth in her ghost form. Danny and Sam stood close on standby and Tucker took a seat on Danny's bed when she stopped in front of a mirror hanging the wall near Danny's closet and took in her appearance for what was probably the hundredth time. It was a strange feeling looking into her now glowing green eyes; it felt like she was in another body, but this body was hers, too. It was so hard to explain something she could barely comprehend herself. She sighed and turned to her friends, "I'm sorry. It's just, I was finally getting used to the fact that I was just a human with ghost powers. Now I'm actually half ghost and I…"

She trailed off and slid to the ground, hugging her knees. They all felt for her, from both sides. Danny knew exactly what she was going through. When he first went full ghost, he went into full on panic mode and was out of commission for at least a week, so really, she was doing better than he had. But Sam and Tucker were always there to pick up the pieces for him, and now all three of them would be there to help Kimmy through this. Sam was the first to go to her, taking a seat on the ground next to her and uncharacteristically wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Green eyes looked up at her and she smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry. We've all already done this before. We can help you."

Kimmy looked between her and the boys, who were giving her encouraging smiles from Danny's bed. She smiled too and Sam helped her to her feet. She held Kimmy's hands in hers and Kimmy looked around herself, "How do I – whoa!" She felt it in her center of gravity and a burst of energy brought her back her human self. She looked in the mirror and frowned. She looked awful. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were bloodshot with deep purple circles underneath. As a human, she was weak and she merely assumed it was from her body adjusting to her newfound powers. But she was also a little shocked to find that she now had a full head of solid white hair, just like her uncle. She wrapped her fingers around a piece of it and stroked it nervously. There was no way she was going to be able to hide this. She would have to come up with some reason why here hair was suddenly white as a sheet.

"I kind of like it, actually." Danny tore her from her thoughts and she found him standing with Sam.

"Yeah, I do too. It suits you." Sam said, placing her hands on her hips. Kimmy wrapped her arms around Sam unexpectedly and Sam's first reaction was to push her off, but she hugged her back. The boys mocked them, making loud "awe" sounds about how cute they were before they wrapped their arms around the girls. And for a moment, Kimmy was truly happy.

The moment didn't last long, however.

"Is it just me, or is this the worst spirit week in the history of Casper High spirit weeks?"

The next day, Sam motioned to the seemingly undead students that were roaming the halls of their high school. The entire school had deep bags under their eyes, their hair was untamed, and it was as if they were all in a constant state of depressive paranoia.

"And to make it worse, we're all gonna have to sit through Jazz's idiotic speech when she tries to put the 'I' back in spirit. Or some other nonsense."

Danny had another session with Ms. Spectra that morning and his bad mood had worsened since then. They started down the hall to their class just as Jazz came skipping around the corner with the biggest grin on her face and Danny scowled at her in disgust, "What the heck is she so happy about?"

"Don't ask me." Sam said, "I'm usually the sour one around here. But compared to everyone else, I'm the goth bird of happiness."

"Me, too." Tucker laughed, "And we're the only two people in the school who haven't had a session with Dr. Spectra."

The thought hit Danny like a brick to the head and he silently cursed himself. How could he have been so stupid? He stopped walking and Tucker nearly ran into his back as he spoke, "Wait a minute. Let me see something." He reached for Tucker's PDA and started sorting through photos until he came across the one he was looking for, one of him dressed the baby getup, and started to examine it more closely.

"I was gonna delete that." Tucker chuckled nervously.

"Glad you didn't. Look at that." He had Sam and Tucker look over his shoulder at the screen as he explained, "I kept thinking I was seeing by breath, that it was cold. But what if that's my ghost sense? What if Spectra is somehow making people more miserable? What if she's a ghost?"

"Only one way to find out." Sam smirked.

"Find out what?" Kimmy approached them and the three of them were taken aback by her appearance. She'd also had another session with Ms. Spectra and since then she'd only gotten weaker. The ghost jaguar had thrown her for a loop yesterday, but spending some time with Danny, Sam, and Tucker had helped. Now, however, she looked worse than she had before. She didn't look much different than the other kids at the school. Her now fully white hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and her clothes were sagging off her. The bags under her eyes were so deep her freckles were starting to wrinkle. This only gave more proof to Danny's theory and this made him antsy.

"We need to do something. And fast." He said, "Kimmy's not going to last much longer if I'm right, and neither is the rest of the school."

They set off to execute their plan after sending Kimmy down to the gym with the rest of the students for the spirit week assembly. She was in no position to fight and Danny just hoped that she'd be okay by herself while Sam and Tucker went in for a joint appointment with Ms. Spectra and Danny waited outside as Danny Phantom. He waited impatiently for his friends came out a twenty minutes later looking absolutely disheveled and completely hating their lives. This spiked Danny's confidence in his theory and when Ms. Spectra returned to her office and closed the door he followed her, sitting invisibly in the corner of the room so that he could eavesdrop without her knowledge. And, just as he suspected, there was a ring of raw energy hovering around the chairs that Sam and Tucker had just been sitting in. The councilor breathed it in and Danny watched as her skin tightened, her hair gained more volume and became silky-smooth, and her whole body seemed to perk up. She sighed in ecstasy and took a seat on her desk, glancing at the files and mumbling to herself about missing the kids of Casper High. Danny moved closer to peek over her shoulder and see was she was looking at. There was a whole stack and he could see Dash's and Paulina's, among others, but there were five files spread out before her: his, Sam's, Tuckers, Kimmy's, and Jazz's. He furrowed his eyebrows and tried to make sense of the situation. He knew she was feeding off their energy - he more miserable they were, the better. He'd been right and they were all in danger. A new presence phased through the wall and Danny recognized it as the ghost he and Kimmy fought at the Pharmacy.

"There you are." Ms. Spectra said, her face lighting up like a child on Christmas morning, "You hooked up the device?"

"Of course," The ghost replied with a dismissive hand, as if it was so simple a task that anyone could do it, "And when the spirit sparklers go up, vaporizing the only chipper kid left in the entire school, there'll be enough misery and anguish in that room to keep us looking young forever!"

Danny was in shock. They were planning to kill Jazz. He had to do something and he was running out of time. The bell rang and the two ghosts disappeared in a flash of green light into the hall. Danny let his feet hit the ground and tried to recover from his discovery. His sister and the entire school was in danger and he had close to no time to figure out how to save them. He took a deep breath and went after Ms. Spectra and her ghost assistant, finding them walking down the hall just outside the gym. With anger boiling in his chest, he sent a green-hot energy beam at Ms. Spectra's assistant. The small man went flying backwards back towards the office and Ms. Spectra laid eyes on a very livid Danny Phantom floating just in front of her with his hand still smoking from the blast, "I figured it out, finally. You feed on misery, don't you?"

"I'm sorry. Can I help you?" Ms. Spectra tried playing dumb, uncaring that her assistant was lying injured several feet behind her.

"No, I'm sure you can't."

A sly smirk grew on Ms. Spectra's face and she returned her dark glasses to her eyes. She obviously felt that Danny posed no threat to her and she made a move at him, reaching out with her perfectly manicured nails that he avoided easily, "You can't help anyone except yourself. You find that one thing that a kid's most afraid of – their future, their looks, their confidence – and you pick at it and pick at it while your snippy little ghost assistant feeds on it."

The ghost assistant stood weakly, adjusting his suit jacket and vest, dusting himself off and growling at Danny's accusation. Ms. Spectra gave a round of applause, crow's feet wrinkles forming at her eyes from how big her smile was, "Very good. But I fear you've missed a few details."

Danny took a step back when he was suddenly greeted with glowing red eyes. A ring of purple and green fire engulfed Ms. Spectra's feet and her form started to melt into a deep black shadow. She was absolutely terrifying and Danny felt his already cold blood turn icy in fear. She charged at him with claws glowing green with raw energy and Danny screamed. He blocked his face in preparation for the hit, but he was caught off guard when the jaguar ghost tackled him from the side and sent them both through the wall of the school where he had Danny pinned to a tree.

"You!" he exclaimed, remembering him from the Pharmacy and now realizing that they'd all been the same ghost all along.

"You thought you were going to stop us?" the jaguar taunted, "You? You had to bring your little ghost girlfriend to save you last time. You're just a frightened little kid."

Danny had enough. He was still weak from his sessions with Ms. Spectra but with everything he had, he forced his body to go intangible just as the jaguar lifted his paw ready to strike. Danny disappeared into the tree and the jaguar put three deep claw marks into the bark. Confused, the ghost looked around for its prey and Danny came flying out of the ground to send a sucker punch right into the cat's jaw, sending it flying back over the school building. He floated midair to watch the ghost disappear into the distance, stupidly not watching his own back and leaving it open for Ms. Spectra to grab him round the neck. He struggled against her as she took him back towards the school and forced him peer through the window into the gym. He demanded she release him but she merely laughed in his face, "Why would I do that? Your doubt, your misery, it's delicious. And the best part is, as soon as that silly speech is over and the last domino falls and the sparklers vaporize the speaker, we'll leave you here to take the blame. And by the time I'm done with you, you'll be sure it was all your fault."

In the gym, Mr. Lancer had already started the domino chain, with Jazz standing on the stage watching them fall with a calm composure. Danny could see Sam, Tucker, and Kimmy sitting in the crowd, looking just as miserable as the rest of the student body and he took a deep breath, "Man, I am so tired of you dumping on me. And I am so tired of dumping on myself. Jazz never did that. Even when I was mad at her. And I won't let her down!"

With a burst of energy, he forced Ms. Spectra to let go of him. She was quick to regain her composure, however, and called out for the jaguar, "Bertrand, sic him!"

Danny dodged the jaguar that appeared from the school building, but he was suddenly unimpressed when the ghost shapeshifted into a ninja. He rolled his eyes as Bertrand showed off his nun chuck skills and pulled the Fenton Thermos from his back, "I so don't have time for this."

He pulled him into the Thermos and turned to Ms. Spectra. She was obviously angry and charged at him, but he was quick to counter attack, dodging her claws and grabbing hold of her ghost tail and slamming her in a nearby garbage dump. He had a small moment of glory before he remembered why he'd been doing this and he flew through the wall and into the gym. The lasers on either side of Jazz were heating up and Danny was flying as fast as his powers would allow him, unseen by human eyes. He managed to grab ahold of his sister just in time and fly her out of danger, setting her down in a deserted hallway behind the gym.

Once they were there, Jazz just stared at him in shock and he smiled at her. But the moment didn't last long as Ms. Spectra had escaped her temporary prison and grabbed him from behind and pulled him into the next room. The ghost slammed him up against the wall and held his face painfully. He reached for the Thermos but she knocked it out of his grasp and out of reach, "Look at you. What are you? A ghost trying to fit in with humans? Or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?"

"Both. Uh…neither. I don't know!" Danny tried to stay focused, but the ghost's powers of feeding on misery were overpowering and he could feel himself slipping.

"You're a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy. Who cares for a thing like you?"

Danny could feel her feeding off him the longer she held on to him. He managed to wiggle free and landed on the ground with a loud thud but now he could hardly move. She was quick to get back in his face and there was nothing he could do. He was weak and she was strong from feeding off the entire school. He knew he was a goner when a familiar voice stopped Ms. Spectra in her tracks.

"Excuse me." Jazz said, "I don't know this kid, but I hope it's okay if he gets a second opinion."

She held up what Danny recognized as their dad's newest invention, the Fenton Ghost Peeler and hit the red button on the back, engulfing herself in a white armor and blasting the ghost without hesitation. Ms. Spectra screamed in agony at the effects of the weapon, layers of age peeling off her by the second until she was nothing but skin and bones. Without all those layers, she was powerless, and Danny could feel his strength returning. He stood and held out the Fenton Thermos, capturing Ms. Spectra once and for all.

Danny held the Thermos with a satisfied smirk on his lips as Jazz approached him. His heart started pounding, praying that she didn't recognize who he was. In realization, she pretended to run away in fear, stopping at the door and glancing over her shoulder at him with a smile, "You'd better go."

She disappeared around the corner and Danny let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. With a smile, he turned to leave and was met with a stack of boxes to the face. He rolled his eyes at himself and flew out of the room, landing in the hall outside of the gym and returning to his human form. He stepped inside and found that with Ms. Spectra gone, everyone had gone back to normal. He could hear his name being called and he followed his ears to the left where Sam, Tucker, and Kimmy were waving him over. They were all smiling again and Kimmy looked like a normal teenage girl again with hair as white as snow. She smiled at him and he returned the favor, taking a seat next to her. As he did, his hand grazed hers and they jerked away from each other, blushing at the touch. When the students started to chant Jazz's name, they looked up and saw Mr. Lancer bring her in, safe and sound. Everything was right with the world again.

* * *

 _Later that night…_

"Danny, are you sure about this?"

It was late and Danny had talked Kimmy into letting him teach her how to fly. They were out in the park near the school and had already taken some time to get the hang of transforming back and forth between human and ghost. It didn't take too much energy and when she felt comfortable with her glowing green eyes and long blue hair, they moved on to flying.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Danny chuckled and grabbed her hands, "Okay, just think about being weightless. You're a ghost, you're as light as a feather."

"Wow, that's deep."

"I know, but it worked, didn't it?" he smirked and she furrowed her eyebrows at him before looking down. They were flying – she was flying. She squeaked and was quick to jump into his arms. He laughed and flew up a few feet more before gently prying her away from him, letting go of her in confidence so that she was floating all on her own. She slowly peaked one eye open and then her face brightened. Her freckles glowed bright with her excitement and she flew in a back-circle, coming back with a ghost-tail. She looked a little shocked and Danny laughed at her expression.

"Don't worry, you get used to it." He gestured to his own and she smiled and followed him way up above the city. With the wind blowing her newly blue locks behind her, she glanced over at Danny flying next to her and felt her heart thump. He looked down at her and she looked away, feeling a deep blush rise in her cheeks. He frowned a little. Unknowing to her, he felt the same thump of his heart and in knowing she was looking at him he felt his ears grow hot. They made eye contact again and smiled at each other before she closed her eyes and feel backwards into a free fall, flying off into the hills with Danny following right behind, the happiest he'd been in a long time.


	8. Shades of Gray, Part 1

Monday morning. 9:00 AM. Casper High School, Amity Park.

Danny's breathing came in short, uneven breaths as he drifted around the corner of one of the main halls of the high school. He hadn't even made it through his first class and he was already on the run from both Dash and Kwan, willing his legs to go faster with every step. Dash had cheated on their latest spelling test using Danny's own paper as a cheat-sheet and when neither of them did so hot, Dash came after him. Danny had managed to outrun him so far, only to run into Paulina and spill her coffee onto Valerie Grey's $579 top. This, in turn, making her force Kwan to come after him. Danny was now on his way to getting a double beating and there was nothing he could do about it, with Dash coming from one of the hall toward him and Kwan on his heel close behind, he was surely a goner. Until he realized how much of an idiot he was and rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.

"Wait a minute." He remembered, "I have ghost powers!"

As he neared the science wing of the school he pulled at the ghostly energy that sat dormant in the pit of his stomach and his body became intangible. He dodged both Dash and Kwan by disappearing into the ground, leaving the two football players to slam their skulls together and allow Danny to escape to the back parking lot unharmed. With his feet safely on the ground and safe from nosey onlookers, he rested his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, muttering to himself about his close call with the bullies, and felt the sudden cold chill of his ghost sense, his breath visible in front of him. He whipped his head around and looked for the danger, his body ready to spring into action. But to his surprise, he dropped his guard. A little glowing green puppy with big, innocent red eyes and a slobbery purple tongue approached him, wagging its little tail happily. Danny smiled and picked it up affectionately, glancing at the spiked collar with a large "A" on the tag.

"It's like Dash, but with better breath." He chuckled when the puppy licked his cheek and he set it back down on the pavement, "Now this I can handle!"

"Cujo!"

Danny heard a familiar voice and was barely able to process a face when he was knocked off his feet by a blue haired ghost girl. He and Kimmy Phantom went toppling backwards when she was unable to hit the breaks in time, landing unceremoniously with Kimmy on top of him. The groaned and Kimmy looked him painfully, "I'm so sorry, Danny."

"It's alright. Are you okay?" he sat up and rubbed his head, wincing when he felt a bump. Kimmy nodded, sat on her hip and breathing heavy with exercise and her long blue hair sticking up in odd places. Danny blinked at her in confusion, "Kimmy? What's wrong, why are you in ghost mode?"

She pointed at the little puppy behind them, "I've been trying to catch him all morning, but he keeps escaping."

"That little guy?" Danny laughed, "Kimmy, I know you're new at this, but it's just a puppy."

Kimmy smiled devilishly at him, "You haven't seen it yet, have you?"

Just as the words left her mouth, an immense glow and deep growl made Danny and Kimmy turn back to the pup, only it wasn't a small puppy anymore. The dog was bigger than a horse, and very angry looking. The two half-ghosts and Danny swallowed and started scooting away slowly as it looked like the beast might pounce. Kimmy screamed and put her hands up, creating a dome shield around Danny and herself but it was unneeded as the dog cleared them and took off running down the street. Kimmy released the shield and the teens flipped around to watch where the animal ran off to. They could see it a little way down and Danny went into ghost mode as they got to their feet.

"Come one, we better follow it." He said, rising into the air just after Kimmy.

"Cujo."

"What?"

"Cujo, that's what I named him."

"You named a ghost?"

"Did you see that puppy? Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same."

Danny rolled his eyes but he couldn't help the smile that played on his lips, "Come on. Let's go before we lose him."

* * *

"Down, boy! Cujo, stop!"

Kimmy screamed as the large ghost dog slammed her through several big heavy metal doors. She'd chased him all the way to a nearby research lab called Axion Labs and tried to stop him from damaging anything, but it was too late. This dog was on a rampage and he was too big for her to stop. She could hear voices coming from behind the last door and she groaned as she got to her feet, holding the ribs she was sure were cracked or broken or something similar. She hovered in front of the dog and attempted to talk him down to his puppy mode one last time; and that was how she ended up getting thrown through one last metal door and sliding painfully across the ground. She looked up and found none other than Valerie Gray from her high school staring down at her with four other men she didn't recognize.

"What are you?" Valerie asked with a disgusted tone in her voice. The entire front of her shirt had a large coffee stain and Kimmy vaguely remembered Danny telling her it was his fault. Kimmy smiled sheepishly and Cujo let out a deep growl before shaking his fur out, and in turn shaking the slobber from his mouth and sending green ecto-slobber all over Valerie and the men she was with.

"I'll tell you what she's not:" Danny flew in and hovered over Kimmy and Valerie, "Coated in dog saliva."

Kimmy rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Danny."

With a loud bark, Cujo launched himself at the group and Danny shoved Valerie out of harm's way. Kimmy shielded herself and rolled over so that she could see where the dog went, "Bad dog! No, get back here!"

Cujo phased through the very last metal door ahead of them and Kimmy ran after him, right through the door and Danny watched after them with concern, "Kimmy, no!"

He left Valerie and flew through the door after the other two ghosts and looked around in shock. The dog had already caused so much damage that the place was unrecognizable. He found that Kimmy had taken ahold of the Cujo's collar and was still attempting to slow him down but her measly weight was doing nothing to stop the large animal. Behind him, the door opened and the three security officers were standing with their weapons at the ready, demanding that Cujo and Kimmy halt. However, no one but Danny knew that there wasn't much Kimmy could do with a humongous, raging ghost dog, even with their powers. The officers started firing, barely missing Kimmy and Cujo and Kimmy screamed.

"Danny! Do something!" she called but Danny didn't know what to do. He also grabbed on to Cujo's collar and entered into the same fate as Kimmy: getting dragged around the lab and leaving the place trashed in their wake. One of the men flipped a switch and an alarm started blaring in their ears as a large disco ball armed with hundreds of tiny lasers came down from the ceiling. The dog went intangible, forcing Danny and Kimmy's bodies to react accordingly just in time for the weapons to miss them and for them to pass through a net that was meant to capture them. The three of them were soon outside where one second Danny and Kimmy were hanging on for their lives and the next the dog vanished into thin air, leaving them to tumble into the grass and be tossed aside half-hazardly. Danny sat up and held his head, looking around desperately for Kimmy and finding her sitting dazed on her knees with her hair a grassy mess. He couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"Well, I don't know about you, but that's enough excitement for me today." He got to his feet and went to help her up. She took his hand graciously and tried to tame her blue locks.

"I don't understand. I made sure to get Cujo back safely into the Ghost Zone this morning. And now he's disappeared."

"Don't worry, we'll find him. Come one, we said we'd meet Sam and Tucker at my place."

* * *

Once they met up with Sam and Tucker, the four of them took off on their scooters while Danny and Kimmy relayed their story about Cujo the Ghost Dog. They were almost to their destination when Danny stopped them right outside of Valerie Gray's house where a huge "YARD SALE" sign was sitting the front yard along with a what looked like a good chunk of the family's belongings.

"Whoa, talk about rock bottom. They're selling everything they own in a yard sale." Sam said. Kimmy sighed and leaned over her handle bars.

"I feel so bad. If I could've stopped Cujo, none of this would've happened."

"She's having a hard week," Tucker said sadly, which quickly turned back up into a big smile, "Which means I can catch her on the rebound. Suh-weet!"

"Tucker," Kimmy warned, rolling her eyes. But Valerie's dad came out with a box labeled family photos, which Kimmy noted was also the man she'd seen at the lab, which Cujo so wonderfully destroyed, and then Valerie came out, struggling with a large box that had "VAL'S CLOTHES" written on the front. Tucker wagged his eyebrows at Kimmy and jumped off his scooter to approach the poor girl and make a move on her, "Hey, Val. I heard what happened."

"Oh, great." She replied, "Word's already oozed down to the bottom of the social grapevine."

"Hey, come on. I know you're upset, but he just wants to help." Danny said. He and the girls had left their helmets behind and approached the two when Valerie started to lash out.

"We all do." Kimmy added.

"I don't." Sam said, crossing her arms behind them. Kimmy sighed and Danny smiled nervously. Tucker cleared his throat, "Most of us do. More than 1/2."

"Thanks, but I'll pass." Valerie's scowl matched Sam's and Kimmy was about to say something else but the increasingly familiar chill of her ghost sense made itself known and she looked up at Danny and found his ghost sense visible in front of him. They both glanced around, unable to find the danger; but just because they couldn't see it didn't mean it wasn't there.

"We're gonna have to pass, too." Danny took Kimmy's hand and the two of them sped off on their scooters. Sam, Tucker, and Valerie watched them go, still a little in shock by their sudden departure. But their friends' disappearance was soon forgotten when the ground beneath their feet started to crack and they were stunned to find a large, green ghost dog pulling itself out of the earth, tossing all of Valerie's clothes into a mudpuddle near the sidewalk that was left over from the rain the day before, along with several other of her family's possessions. Valerie's hands balled into fists at her sides and she glared at the dog that was now sniffing around her front yard. Danny and Kimmy phased through the ground next to the large hole the dog had just made and hovered next to it.

"Cujo!" Kimmy called. The dog turned to her with a growl and all she had to do was scratch him behind the ears and he was as obedient as could be. His back paw thumped against the sidewalk and his tail started to wag as he shrunk down in size. Kimmy lifted him into her arms with an almost loving expression and a reprimanding tone, "How did you get out of the Ghost Zone again?"

"Well, ghost dogs are a lot more entertaining than regular dogs." Danny said.

"Whatever you are, get out of here." Valerie yelled, "You and your stupid dog have done enough."

"I'm really sorry, I – whoa!" Kimmy tried to apologize but Cujo started yapping from her arms, trying to wiggle free. He jumped out of her hold and took hold of Danny's leg with his teeth, dragging him unwillingly into Valerie's family's moving van. Kimmy covered her mouth in shock and flew over to the truck with Valerie, Sam, and Tucker running underneath her. There was a lot of commotion and banging for a moment before Danny phased out of the top of the truck with Cujo under his arm. He pulled Kimmy away and they flew off before anyone else could see them.

"What's going on here?" Valerie's dad came out to see what all the noise was about and Sam and Tucker cringed when he opened the moving van to find all of their things destroyed. Valerie scowled, "I don't know. But I'm gonna find out."

* * *

Danny and Kimmy flew into Danny's parents' lab unseen with Cujo under Danny's arm. They approached the ghost portal and Kimmy pressed the button to open it so they could return the pup to the ghost world.

"Okay, Cujo, in you go." Danny tossed the little dog in and the portal closed shut behind it. Kimmy gasped and flew over to Danny, who was shaking his hands to get rid of the ecto-slobber, "Blecch. That's it. I'm getting a hamster."

"Did you have to toss him like that?" Kimmy whined, falling in step with Danny as they walked away.

"I was hoping if I threw him in further he wouldn't be able to find his way back out again."

She pouted unhappily and the two of them changed back into human form as they made their way upstairs to leave. Jazz was sitting in the living room with a book in her lap and she took a double take when she saw them leave the lab, "I didn't know you guys were here."

"Yeah, I forgot to grab a book. We're leaving now." Danny said smoothly. He'd been hiding his powers so long it was almost second nature to lie in order to cover a ghost situation and Jazz eyed the two suspiciously. Danny, not fazed by his sister's nosy sneer, walked out the front door but Kimmy hesitated, glancing over at Jazz. She knew that his sister knew about her powers, but she wasn't sure if Jazz knew that she knew. Jazz gave her a sly smirk and she smiled nervously before darting out the door and closing it behind her, running to catch up to Danny before she got left behind.

* * *

"Kimberly? Is that you?"

Kimmy set her backpack on the floor in the foyer of her home. It had taken the movers and interior designers weeks to get everything moved in and settled but they were finally all moved in and back to a general normalcy. Well, as normal as you could get when you and your uncle both had ghost powers, that you were keeping secret from each other.

"Yes, Uncle Vlad!" Kimmy called back. He was probably in his study, so that's where she headed. She was absolutely exhausted from chasing Cujo around all day but she couldn't let her uncle know she'd been chasing a ghost dog. She treaded through the mansion till she approached the large double doors. Truthfully, she liked this mansion better than the castle. It was smaller, still grand of course because her uncle wouldn't have it any other way, but smaller still and she absolutely loved it. They had less land, but there was a small patch of trees behind the mansion and her bedroom window overlooked it, and with the way the mansion was built she basically had a whole floor to herself, which was wonderful both as a girl with secret ghost powers, and as a teenage girl.

She knocked on her uncle's study door and got the okay to enter. Her uncle was sat at his desk writing out a short note of some sort and he smiled when she entered. To her surprise, he finished up the note and dropped it into a large box on the floor next to him before getting to his feet and holding out his arms to hug her. She hesitated, but returned the gesture. Ever since finding out about his evil ghost half, where she once felt comfort in her uncle's embrace she now felt fear. He held her at arm's length with the kindest of smiles and led her to sit down by the fireplace where there was some hot tea ready for consumption. He sat down across from her and leaned back in his chair, insisting she drink her tea but a part of her didn't trust it, and she merely expressed her disinterest.

"How are you liking public school, Kimberly?" he started.

"I'm enjoying very much, actually." She replied. He never did this. They had dinner together once a week, a tradition they'd had since she was very little, but this was so unlike him. What was he trying to get from her? She answered his questions casually to keep up appearances but she tried to relay the least amount of information possible.

"Good, good. I see you've been spending a lot of time with Jack's son, Daniel. How is he?"

There it was.

"He's good. We have a lot of classes together."

"Wonderful! Tell me, do you think - ?"

"I'm so sorry, but I've actually got a lot of homework. Is it okay if I go up to my room?"

He was up to something. She didn't know what it was, but it had to be bad. And she'd already had a long day. She needed to get out of there before something bad happened. He was a little taken aback by her interruption but he dismissed her nonetheless. She left and almost sprinted up to her room, locking the door behind her. She would have to remember to tell Danny about her uncle later, but right then all she wanted was to finish her homework and go to sleep.


End file.
